Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “ECONOMICS”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,153 records · Page 64Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

Ethics and economic appraisals in health care.

Although the author recognizes that the ethical point of view could be an aid to a group of professionals, he examines the ethical value of economic appraisal in health care. First of all he considers the issue of the experimental nature of appraisals and demonstrates that certain studies using human subjects do not respect the most elementary ethical rules: conformity of the experiment to the present state of scientific knowledge, consideration for the risks which the experiment could involve for the subject, consent of the person concerned. Without aiming at an exhaustive list he then looks at the different value conflicts which could be picked out, a characteristic of ethical research. He states first of all that economic appraisals in health care try to bring together very different value systems in using common criteria in decisions, but this cannot completely eliminate these systems and the conflicts which stem from them. In particular he underlines the phenomenon of occultation which could result from the use of mathematical formulae. After the contradictions between medicine and economics he then goes on to point out the contradictions between the levels of understanding reality, between fields of economic or social considerations. Finally, he insists on the mobility of ethical thought and on the vigilance which it is always necessary to observe.

Codes of Ethics↗
PubMed1986

The economics and evaluation of dental care and treatment.

This paper is concerned with economic evaluation in dentistry. The potential for such evaluation is great, but has not been fully realised to date. A number of issues which are common to the existing literature are discussed, and particular attention is paid to the question of measuring dental health in economic appraisal. Directions for future research are presented. The paper concludes that the future for economic evaluation in dentistry is favourable and that there is a need for greater collaboration between economic and dental researchers in this area.

Cost-Benefit Analysis↗
PubMed1993

Community types, socio-economic structure and IHD mortality--a contextual analysis based on Swedish aggregate data.

The importance of social and economic conditions for people's health has been receiving more and more attention during the past 10 years. The question that is raised in this study is if the link between socio-economic factors in society, seen in the more composite sense, and cardiovascular mortality are dependent on different socio-geographical contexts? Two contextual situations are used; one concerns the dimension which places the analysis in an urban-rural context and the other, the dimension placing it in a context which describes people's forms of work. The study is based on aggregated data on the social and economic conditions for men in the municipalities in Sweden for the period 1983-1987. The results show that the link between various dimensions of the socio-economic structure and IHD rates is more pronounced in the urban and white-collar community types than in rural and blue-collar communities. In the community type where the links are more pronounced the IHD rate is lower and in the type where the links are less pronounced the IHD rate is higher. The results are discussed in relation to different theoretical perspectives.

Cardiovascular Diseases↗
PubMed1993

Problems in the measurement and international comparisons of socio-economic differences in mortality.

The opportunities for research of socio-economic differences in mortality are best in countries where a system of personal identification numbers makes the computerised linkage of census and death records possible. The first part of this study is an example of the use of such linked records. It presents results on the development of mortality differences by level of education and occupational class in Finland in the period 1971-1985. Socio-economic mortality differences among middle-aged and elderly men increased in Finland during the study period. The increase was mainly due to the rapid decline of mortality from cardiovascular diseases among upper white-collar employees and men with more than secondary education. Relative socio-economic mortality differences were smaller among women than among men and remained unchanged in 1971-1985. The second part of the article discusses the problems in international comparisons of socio-economic mortality differences and summaries results from two comparative studies. The results are inconsistent: differences by level of education among men were found to be similar in six countries included in the comparison, whereas marked variation was found in the ratios of the mortality of manual workers to the mortality of non-manual workers.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Integration of economic appraisal and health care policy in a health insurance system; the Dutch case.

This article discusses the role of economic appraisal in insurance based health care systems, taking the case of the Netherlands as an example. The public health insurance system in this country is governed by the Health Insurance Executive Board, which policies are firmly based on the results of economic appraisal. Furthermore, reimbursement policies regarding pharmaceutical products are described, emphasizing again the position of information from economic appraisal in these policies. The article concludes with the identification of some trends in health policy and in the way it is supported by economic appraisal studies.

Cost-Benefit Analysis↗
PubMed1994

General practitioner utilisation in Ireland: the role of socio-economic factors.

Substantial variation across socio-economic groups in general practitioner utilisation patterns is observed in Ireland. This may reflect both the influence of socio-economic factors on health and on the demand for health care, and the fact that lower income groups are entitled to free GP care whereas the remainder of the population must pay on a fee-per-item basis. The paper analyses the influence of economic incentives and socio-economic factors on GP utilisation using data obtained in a large-scale household survey. This allows the different utilisation patterns of different social classes/income groups, and those with entitlement to free care vs the remainder of the population, to be documented. The importance of attempting to control for health status is shown, and the difficulties in trying to disentangle the effects of incentives from those of social class or income illustrated.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Economic reform and health sector policy: lessons from structural adjustment programs.

From a purely economic perspective, structural adjustment programs (SAPs) and economic reform policies are viewed as short-term austerities that lead to long-term growth and development. These intertemporal trade-offs, however, are not always acceptable in health. Unique biologic events such as intrauterine development and neural development cannot be postponed even for a short period. Health policymakers need to understand the expected and unexpected impacts of economic reform on health outcomes in individuals and on the population. The interactions are complex, involve multiple sectors, and can be better understood by looking at the experience of developing countries over almost fifteen years of SAP experience. Health care budgets may be vulnerable to reduced government spending, quality of care deteriorates, nutrition will suffer more likely in urban areas, and cost-effective preventive programs may stop if labor and capital are not properly matched. Health outcomes overall do not appear to suffer but a more detailed look, with better data, shows that the incidence of preventable diseases rises and irreversible deterioration in health status does occur within countries. To prevent this from happening in the future, health policymakers need to take a multidisciplinary focus to first understand the effects of economic reform and then to plan a coordinated response. Better data, alternative financing, and strong political leadership are also important lessons.

Cost Control↗
PubMed1996

Economic analyses in health care: an introduction to the methodology with an emphasis on radiation therapy.

Payers are increasingly interested in knowing whether they are receiving value for the dollars they spend on health care. Because economic analysis will be used as a means of evaluating radiation therapy, it is important that radiation oncologists understand the basic methodology employed in such analyses. This review article describes the four basic types of economic analyses: cost minimization, cost effectiveness, cost utility, and cost benefit. Specification of alternative therapies, choice of perspective of the analysis, measurements of costs and benefits, and the role of discounting and sensitivity analyses are discussed. Published economic analyses that pertain directly to treatment with radiation therapy are reviewed. Finally, we close with a brief discussion of the potential areas for future economic outcomes research in radiation oncology.

Cost-Benefit Analysis↗
PubMed1993

Behavioral economics of drug self-administration: an introduction.

Behavioral economics provides a set of concepts for the analysis of factors that control the allocation of behavioral resources among available reinforcers. Terms from micro-economics describe new phenomena previously ignored within the traditional context of behavior analysis. This article reviews these concepts as an introduction to the three papers that follow. The primary dependent measure within the behavioral economic framework is the level of consumption of available commodities as determined by the level and distribution of instrumental responding. The demand curve provides a quantitative metric for analyzing consumption under the constraint of unit price. When the reinforcer is a drug, the demand curve can be a useful tool for analyzing the level of motivation to consume the drug, its abuse liability, and for evaluating interventions, such as alternative reinforcers or medications, to reduce the motivation to consume the drug and instrumental responding to obtain it. Behavioral economics also provides a framework for formulating, testing, and refining drug abuse policy through a series of empirical steps that maximize effectiveness and minimize undesirable social consequences.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Acute low back pain and economics of therapy: the iterative loop approach.

We use the measurement iterative loop as a conceptual framework to examine the economics of common therapies for acute non-specific low back pain. The measurement iterative loop systematically assesses the interlocking facets of an illness from the community health perspective, including quantifying burden of illness, etiology, assessment of therapeutic effectiveness, and economic evaluation of therapies. The iterative loop reveals that: (1) burden of illness, although known to be substantial, is so far inaccurately measured, (2) little is known about such factors as provider and patient compliance; and (3) the economics of therapy can guide us in this time of clinical uncertainty when no therapy appears clearly superior. For therapies with at least some support from randomized controlled trials, bedrest appears to be economically superior. Besides burden of illness, compliance, and current therapies, future research should address such "therapeutic" options as early return to work and patient self-management.

Acute Disease↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections and their relation with socio-economic factors and hygienic habits in Tehran primary school students.

School age children carry the heaviest burden of morbidity due to intestinal parasitic infections. Our objective was to determine the prevalence of these infections in primary school children living in Tehran and their association with socio-economic factors and hygienic habits. In September 1998, a total of 19,213 subjects were invited to participate. Data on health and socio-economic status and health-related behaviours, collected via questionnaires, physical examinations and stool sample analyses, were available for 19,209 persons, with a participation rate greater than 99.99%. All participants were subjected to three methods of microscopic examinations on the stool sample and an adhesive cellophane tape slide evaluation. The prevalence rate of intestinal parasitic infection among the students was 18.4%. Coinfection with two or three parasites was seen in 2%. With increase in educational level of parents (especially mothers), the infection rate of children was decreased. Girls showed a significantly higher positive rate than boys. Using piped water, correct method of washing vegetables and increase in the economic score of the family, resulted in a decrease in the infection rate. According to the results, low level of education and consequently poor socio-economic and hygienic condition of families appear to be powerful determinants of infection.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Methodological design for economic evaluation in Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) trial.

OBJECTIVE: Our objective is to describe the rationale and methods for the economic analysis of the PAD trial. The objective of this analysis is to assess whether automated external defibrillators (AEDs) use by lay responders is good value for money. METHODS: Design. This economic evaluation is being conducted concurrently with a randomized trial of (a) control--training to recognize arrest, access 911, and administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) while awaiting arrival of emergency medical services providers versus (b) intervention--training to recognize arrest, access 911, administer CPR, and use an AED while awaiting emergency medical services providers. Lay responders in either group were trained to deliver the study intervention. Population. Participating sites identified distinct units with a population of at least 250 people aged > or = 50 years. Outcome. The primary economic outcome is the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of intervention versus control. RESULTS: Nine hundred ninety-three units including 1260 public and residential locations were randomized. There were 30 survivors in the intervention group and 15 in the control group (P = .03). Sampling will identify program and health care costs. A societal perspective will be adopted. Incremental cost effectiveness will be estimated by using bootstrapping and decision analytic modeling. CONCLUSION: The study will demonstrate whether defibrillation by lay responders improves outcomes at reasonable cost. If so, then the thousands of lives will be improved annually. If not, then limited resources can be invested in other interventions. Our methods also provide a framework for economic evaluations of other interventions for acute cardiovascular events.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Systematic review of economic analyses of health care-associated infections.

BACKGROUND: Economic evidence is needed to assess the burden of health care-associated infections (HAIs) and cost-effectiveness of interventions aimed at reducing related morbidity and mortality. The objective of this study was conducted to assess the quality of economic evaluations related to HAI and synthesize the evidence. METHODS: A systematic review of research published between January 2001 and June 2004 was conducted. Quality of the publication was estimated using a Likert-type scale. All cost estimates were standardized into a common currency. Descriptive statistics and a logistic regression were conducted to identify predictors of high quality. RESULTS: 70 studies were audited. There was wide variation in these cost estimates. Publications estimating the cost attributable to an infection were almost 7 times more likely judged to be of higher quality than studies of the cost of interventions (P < .05). Papers in which the authors stated the perspective (hospital or societal) were twice as likely to be judged as being of high quality (P < .05). CONCLUSION: There are more publications and growing interest in estimating the costs of HAI. However, the methods employed vary. We recommend (1) the use of guidelines for authors and editors on conducting an economic analysis, (2) development of more sophisticated mathematical models, and (3) training of infection control professionals in economic methods.

Costs and Cost Analysis↗
PubMed2004

Changes in mortality after the recent economic crisis in South Korea.

PURPOSE: To examine the changes in all cause mortality and cause-specific mortality after the economic crisis in South Korea. METHODS: Monthly mortality data for an entire country was used and intervention analysis applied to compare mortality after the crisis with mortality which would have occurred if the trends before the crisis had continued. RESULTS: All cause mortality began to increase about 1 year after the crisis, while cardiovascular increased immediately. Transport accidents decreased significantly during the year following the crisis and then regressed towards the pre-economic crisis level. Suicides increased rapidly and maintained an upward trend but subsequently reduced towards the pre-economic crisis level. CONCLUSIONS: This study has shown an evidence of a relationship between economic crisis and mortality.

Accidents, Traffic↗
PubMed2004

Economic impact of HIV.

Economics affects everyone and the economic impact of HIV/AIDS will take generations to unfold. Recent macroeconomic predictions have emphasized the concept of human capital, and predicted that much higher costs will be associated with the epidemic than earlier suggestions that economies might simply grow more slowly implied. At a firm or sector level AIDS increases the costs of doing business; impact studies at this level are therefore more important for planning. Impacts at household level are some of the most immediate and devastating, owing to the close relationship between households being affected by HIV/AIDS and subsequent impoverishment. The economic impacts of HIV/AIDS at each level will be modified through prevention and treatment interventions. The potential savings to governments through implementation of a programme to prevent mother-to-child transmission provide some of the most compelling evidence for action. However, health services are suffering under a dual burden of increased demand and reduced capacity to deliver, which contributes to a cycle of poor health and economic decline.

Anti-HIV Agents↗
PubMed2005

Addressing efficiency: economic evaluation and the agenda for CAM researchers.

Considerations of efficiency are increasingly part of the broad agenda for evidence-based practice in conventional medicine. The findings of applied economic evaluations are often combined with other forms of evidence to assist clinical and wider resource decisions. It follows that as complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) strives for further integration into conventional health services, it might also be subjected to such scrutiny. In preparation for this, this paper provides a basic yet critical introduction to applied economic evaluation; the types of techniques used, their broad strengths and weaknesses, related ethical and moral debate and, in particular, specific issues concerning their application to CAM. Readers will decide for themselves whether they might be supportive of, or opposed to, economic evaluation and under what circumstances. Nevertheless, a wide-ranging agenda for research on economic evaluation and CAM is presented and some basic methodological and design issues--including place specificities and sensitivities--are highlighted.

Complementary Therapies↗
PubMed2006

Economic assessment of animal health performance.

This article describes the fundamental principles of economic assessment of animal health performance in the modem animal production environment. Animal production is a complex system of combined inputs (eg, physical inputs, managerial decision choices) into a production process that produces products valued by society. Perturbations to this system include disease processes and management inefficiencies. Economic valuation of these perturbations must account for the marginal changes in revenues and cost, the time dimensions of occurrence, the inherent risk characteristics of biologic systems, and any opportunity value that exists that allows management to intervene within the process and make economically influencing decisions. It has been recognized that improving animal health can play a major role in achieving efficient and economically rewarding production.

Animal Husbandry↗
PubMed2004

A behavioural economic analysis of alcohol, amphetamine, cocaine and ecstasy purchases by polysubstance misusers.

Behavioural economic models of substance choice describe the relationship between changes in unit price and consumption. As the majority of UK non-dependent substance misusers are polysubstance misusers, we investigated the influence of price upon hypothetical purchases of alcohol, amphetamine, cocaine and ecstasy. Forty-three current polysubstance misusers (25 males, 18 females; mean age 21.3 +/- 2.8) were recruited into the study. As the price of alcohol rose, demand was inelastic. Amphetamine was a substitute for alcohol, cocaine was a compliment drug and ecstasy was independent. Demand for amphetamine was elastic as its price rose, but only alcohol was identified as a substitute drug and other drug purchases were independent of amphetamine price. As the price of cocaine increased, demand was elastic. Alcohol and ecstasy were substitute drugs but amphetamine purchase was independent, indicating asymmetrical substitution of alcohol and cocaine. Finally, demand for ecstasy was also elastic, but only cocaine substituted as ecstasy price rose. These results extend previous findings in substance dependent populations using behavioural economic models and support the opinion that purchasing substances is a complex process, involving both socio-economic and psychopharmacological factors. Whilst subjects expressed a preference for ecstasy, these behavioural findings indicated that alcohol was their drug of choice when economic considerations were brought into play. Self-reported drug preference, although facilitating between subjects experimental design, may therefore not accurately represent real world polysubstance misuse.

Adolescent↗