Health technology assessment with risk aversion in health

Standard cost-effectiveness models compare incremental cost increases to incremental average gains in health, commonly expressed in Quality-Adjusted Life Years (QALYs). Our research generalizes earlier models in several ways. We introduce risk aversion in Quality of Life (QoL), which leads to “willingness-to-pay” thresholds that rise with illness severity, potentially by an order of magnitude. Unlike traditional CEA analyses, which discriminate against persons with disabilities, our analysis implies that the marginal value of improving QoL rises for disabled individuals. Our model can also value the uncertain benefits of medical interventions by employing well-established analytic methods from finance. Finally, we show that traditional QALYs no longer serve as a single index of health, when consumers are risk-averse. To address this problem, we derive a generalized single-index of health outcomes—the Generalized Risk-Adjusted QALY (GRA-QALY). Earlier models of CEA that abstract from risk-aversion nest as special cases of our more general model.     

Convergent Reliability and Validity of the Questions About Behavioral Function and the Motivation Assessment Scale: A Replication Study

This study compared key psychometric properties of the Motivation Assessment Scale (MAS) and the Questions About Behavioral Function (QABF) and explored their convergent validity. Twenty adults with mental retardation and problem behaviors (aggression, self-injury, or property destruction) and 31 respondents participated. Test–retest reliability of the subscales in both scales was good to excellent (Cicchetti, D. V., 1994, Psychol. Assess. 6: 284–290), and—except for 1 QABF subscale—internal consistency was good considering the small number of items and the purpose of the scale. Consistent with some earlier studies, interrater reliability was less satisfactory with both scales falling only into the fair to good range.Correlations between functionally equivalent subscales were statistically significant and were generally higher than correlations between nonequivalent subscales. The QABF and the MAS were found to be comparable in terms of the assessed reliabilities, and both instruments appear to be measuring very similar constructs.     

Women's access to modern methods of fertility regulation.

Preventing unintended pregnancies through access to modern family planning could avert 20-35% of maternal deaths, saving the lives of more than 100,000 women each year. Obstacles to wider access still exist, but they may be overcome by overt policy commitment to reproductive health services, partnership between stakeholders, community involvement and quality programs.     

Making clinical decisions for dental care: concepts to consider

Clinical decisions are often made with incomplete information, yet patient care decisions are made every day. Patients vary clinically, uncertainty exists in diagnostic and prognostic information, and many preventive and treatment alternatives have not been formally assessed for their effectiveness. Because scientific information will never answer all clinical questions, clinical decisions are partially based on probabilistic information.
This paper describes how to apply clinical decision making to diagnosing and managing dental caries and periodontal diseases. By using explicit information to quantify probabilities and outcomes, clinical decision making analyzes decisions made under uncertain conditions and the uncertain impact of clinical information.
Clinical decision making incorporates concepts for preventing, diagnosing and treating dental caries and periodontal diseases: risk assessment, evidence-based dentistry, and multiple oral health outcomes. This information can serve as a tool for clinicians to augment clinical judgment and expertise.     

From Innumeracy to Insight: The Uncertainty of Help versus Harm in Treatment of Asymptomatic Aortic Aneurysms

There is insufficient evidence that the surgical treatment of asymptomatic infrarenal aneurysms > 5.5 cm. is beneficial to patients. This is the result of serious complications of aneurysm surgery and the dearth of information from randomized trials. Based on evidence from the literature we defined scenarios and translated data into natural frequency trees to improve understanding of the uncertainty of help versus harm due to treatment of aneurysms. Our analysis shows that the majority of patients can expect little on longevity from surgery while they are at risk of dying from surgery or suffering from serious morbidity. We conclude that, as long as uncertainty persist, patients should be treated in hospitals that can show very low surgical mortality and major morbidity rates. To further resolve the problem of uncertainty randomized trials for larger aneurysms should be performed. Important issues to discuss are the lower and upper limits of the diameter of the aneurysms and the age and risk profiles of the patients to be included in such trials.     

Intimate Saboteurs

Background: The bariatric patient exists in dynamic relationship with family members and friends who have considerable influence upon the patient and his or her surgical outcome. When family members and friends behave as intimate saboteurs, they attempt to hamper, hurt, or subvert the bariatric patient's goal of achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight. Successful or not, intimate saboteurs provide significant treatment challenges for the patient and the treatment team. Methods and Patients: Patient profiles provide examples of intimate sabotage. The psychological construct of Family Systems Theory is used as a plausible explanation for the sabotage of friends and family. Conclusions: Multidisciplinary professionals treating the bariatric patient must be aware of the critical influence of intimate saboteurs and the tactics they use to sabotage. Treatment guidelines recommended by Family Systems Theory are presented as strategies to mitigate the influence of intimate saboteurs.