BACKGROUND Besides clinical and radiological examination instrumental functional analyses are performed as diagnostic procedures for craniomandibular dysfunctions. Instrumental functional analyses cause substantial costs and shows a considerable variability between individual dentist practices. OBJECTIVES On the basis of published scientific evidence the validity of the instrumental functiona...

BACKGROUND Nearly one in three South Africans will suffer from a mental disorder in his or her lifetime, a higher prevalence than many low- and middle-income countries. Understanding the economic costs and consequences of prevention and packages of care is essential, particularly as South Africa considers scaling-up mental health services and works towards universal health coverage. Economic ev...

The concept of the quality-adjusted life year (QALY) provides a simple technical tool for summarising the impact a medical condition has on someone's life and the impact a health care intervention can have on that medical condition. In the former case, QALYs (and related concepts, such as disability-adjusted life years, DALYs) have been useful in producing summary statistics on the burden of di...

BACKGROUND It is essential in economic evaluations of schizophrenia interventions that all relevant costs are identified and measured appropriately. Also of importance is the way in which cost data are combined with information on outcomes. AIMS To examine the use of health economics in evaluations of interventions for schizophrenia. METHODS A review of the key methods used to estimate cost...

Background The dearth of health workers in rural settings in Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) and other developing countries limits healthcare access and outcomes. In evaluating non-wage financial incentive packages as a potential policy option to attract health workers to rural settings, understanding the expected costs and effects of the various programs ex antecan assist policy-makers ...

background: the present study aims to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of dynamic interspinous spacer (coflex®) and static spacer (x-stop ®) compared to laminectomy (lami) in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis.   methods: a decision-analysis model was developed to estimate the cost-effectiveness. the effectiveness parameters were obtained from a systematic literature review in relevant databas...

the aim of this study is to assess cost-effectiveness of infliximab, compared with conventional treatments in patients with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis (uc) in iran. we developed an analytical decision model with a 5-year-time horizon to follow up 1000 hypothetical patients, in order to estimate treatment costs and outcomes. hypothetical patients, were individuals with moderate to sev...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Health economics provides a standardised methodology for valid comparisons of interventions in different fields of health care. This review discusses the health economic evaluations of strategies to enhance blood product safety in sub-Saharan Africa. METHODS We reviewed health economic methodology with special reference to cost-effectiveness analysis. We searched the...