1,721,042 research outputs found
Costo-utilità di dalbavancina versus standard of care (SoC) in pazienti con ABSSSI non severa in Italia [Cost-utility of dalbavancin in patients with non-severe ABSSSI in Italy]
No full textIntroduction: Acute Bacterial Skin and Skin Structure Infections (ABSSSIs) include all complicated skin and soft tissue infections. The aim of this study was to conduct a cost-utility analysis to compare dalbavancin with standard antibiotic therapies for the management of non-severe ABSSSIs from the National Health Service (NHS) perspective.
Methods: A probabilistic decision tree model was developed considering a 30-days follow-up to simulate the
therapeutic pathway of a patient treated with dalbavancin or Standard of Care (SoC). The model considered three
mutually exclusive health states: a) discharge of patients from the emergency department, b) discharge of patients after one night from admission, c) discharge after 24 or 36 hours from admission. A one-way deterministic sensitivity analysis and a probabilistic sensitivity analysis were conducted.
Results: The analysis showed that the use of dalbavancin in patients with non-severe ABSSSI compared to SoC
could generate a reduction in costs (– € 291.6 per patient treated) and an increase in QALYs (+0.0018 per patient
treated). In 99.7% of the simulations carried out, dalbavancin was dominant compared to the SoC. Considering a
threshold for the willingness to pay of € 30,000 for QALY gained, the minimum level of efficacy of dalbavancin so
that the treatment can be considered cost-effective compared to the SoC was equal to 69.4%.
Conclusions: The analysis showed that dalbavancin may represent a cost-effective option compared to SoC for
the treatment of patients with non-severe ABSSSI
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Drug prices and value of oncology drugs in Italy
Full text linkObjective: The main objective of this study was to evaluate the potential role of efficacy data and other information available at the time of price and reimbursement (P&R) decision-making process within the definition of oncology treatment costs in Italy. Methods: The study included all P&R dossiers submitted to the Italian Medicines Agency between July 2015 and December 2017. It prospectively collected the data of the P&R process starting from dossier submission up to the Italian Health Service reimbursement decision. The cost of treatment per patient was estimated using both the list price (“gross cost”) and the confidential net price (“net cost”) of drug packages and applied to the median duration of treatment. A 2-sample stage Heckman decomposition model was used to evaluate the potential role of efficacy data and other information available at the time of P&R decision making on the gross and net cost. Results: A total of 37 oncology drugs related to 58 therapeutic indications were analyzed. The multivariate model showed that the variation of progression-free survival is the only variable predictor statistically associated with treatment cost, but this effect was observed only when confidential net prices were used (P=.026). Conclusions: Considering the perspective of a developed country having a public healthcare service with a central reimbursement negotiation is determined a relevant reduction in the treatment cost purchased by public payers. This is a useful approach to guarantee the affordability of innovative oncology drugs and to contain public expenditures on healthcare. Furthermore, the negotiation of confidential discounts and agreement clauses in managed entry agreements seemed to reward oncology drugs displaying an added therapeutic benefit. © 2021 ISPOR–The Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Researc
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
The impact of Covid-19 vaccination on the Italian healthcare system: a scenario analysis
Full text linkBackground and Objective
During 2020, the only instruments for fighting against the pandemic peaks were lockdowns, physical distancing, closure of schools and non-essential businesses, and travel restrictions. The new vaccination strategy adopted in Italy in 2021 represented a new perspective for policymakers.
Objective
The aim of this study was to estimate the effects of the national immunisation strategy for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Italy on the national healthcare system.
Methods
An epidemiological scenario analysis was developed in order to simulate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Italian national healthcare system in 2021. Hospitalisations, intensive care unit (ICU) admissions and death rates were modelled based on 2020 data. Costs were estimated using hospital admissions from the Policlinico of Tor Vergata Hospital in Rome. Two scenarios were tested, one with vaccination and the second without.
Results
The roll-out of vaccinations to protect against COVID-19 was estimated to prevent 52,115 deaths in 2021, 45.2% less than what was expected in the absence of immunisation. Based on the assumptions underlying the two epidemiological scenarios, our model predicted an overall reduction of 2.4 million hospital admissions and 259,000 ICU admissions (74.9% and 71.3% less, respectively, than the world without vaccinations between June and December 2021). Overall, in Italy, the model estimated over €3.0 billion costs of hospitalisations due to COVID-19 in 2020. In 2021, vaccines prevented around 36% of the overall costs.
Conclusions
This is the first study highlighting the effect of vaccines on the Italian healthcare system in terms of avoided cases, hospitalisations and costs. Our results have the potential to inform policymakers and the general population on the benefits of vaccinations
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