1,721,090 research outputs found
Edoxaban versus warfarin for stroke prevention in non-valvular atrial fibrillation: a cost-effectiveness analysis
No full textEdoxaban, an oral direct factor Xa inhibitor, has been found non-inferior to warfarin for preventing stroke and systemic embolism in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF), with a lower rate of intracranial bleeding. The aim of our investigation was to assess the cost-effectiveness of edoxaban versus warfarin from the perspective of the Italian health-care system. A Markov decision model was used to evaluate lifetime cost and quality-adjusted life expectancy of NVAF patients treated with warfarin or edoxaban. Transition probabilities were obtained from the ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48 trial, cost estimates were based on Italian prices and tariffs, utilities were obtained from the literature. One-way and second-order sensitivity analyses were performed. In the base case, lifetime costs were €18,658 for edoxaban and €14,060 for warfarin. Discounted quality-adjusted survival was 9.022 years for edoxaban and 8.425 years for warfarin, leading to an incremental cost-utility ratio of €7,713 per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained. Results were sensitive to time horizon, time in therapeutic range of warfarin and to the relative impact of warfarin versus edoxaban therapy onto quality of life. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis showed edoxaban to be cost-effective versus warfarin in 92.3 % of the simulations at a willingness-to-pay threshold of €25,000 per QALY. In conclusion, edoxaban proved to be a cost-effective alternative to warfarin in patients with moderate-to-high-risk NVAF
Comparative Clinical Value of Pharmacologic Therapies for B-Cell Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: An Umbrella Analysis
No full textSeveral new drugs are progressively improving the life span of patients with B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). However, the rapidly evolving standard of care precludes robust assessments of the incremental clinical value of further innovative drugs. Therefore, we systematically reviewed comparative evidence on newly authorized CLL drugs, as reported by standard and network meta-analyses (MA) published since 2016. Overall, 17 MAs addressed the relative survival or safety of naïve and/or refractory/relapsed (R/R) CLL patients. In R/R patients, therapies including BTK- and BCL2-inhibitors reported progression free survival (PFS) hazard ratios ranging from 0.08 to 0.24 (versus chemotherapy) and a significant advantage in overall survival (OS). In naïve patients, the PFS hazard ratios associated with four recent chemo-free therapies (obinutuzumab- and/or acalabrutinib-based) ranged from 0.11 to 0.61 versus current standard treatments (STs), without a significant OS advantage. Ten MAs addressed the risk of cardiovascular, bleeding, and infective events associated with BTK inhibitors, with some reporting a different relative safety in naïve and R/R patients. In conclusion, last-generation therapies for CLL consistently increase PFS, but not OS, and minimally decrease safety, as compared with STs. Based on available evidence, the patient-customized adoption of new therapies, rather than universal recommendations, seems desirable in CLL patients
Cancer-related fatigue in Italian cancer patients: validation of the Italian version of the Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI)
No full textCancer-related fatigue (CRF) is one of the most common symptoms experienced by cancer patients (CPs). The Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI) is a reliable instrument to assess CRF in CPs. The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the BFI (BFI-I)
Apixaban, Dabigatran, and Rivaroxaban Versus Warfarin for Stroke Prevention in Non-Valvular Atrial Fibrillation: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis
No full textBackground and objective
Non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) increases the risk of systemic thromboembolic events; therefore, anticoagulant treatment with vitamin K antagonists is widely prescribed. Recently, new oral anticoagulants (NOAs) directly inhibiting thrombin (dabigatran) or factor Xa (rivaroxaban and apixaban) demonstrated their non-inferiority with respect to warfarin in reducing the thromboembolic risk. The aim of this study was to estimate the cost effectiveness of NOAs in an Italian setting.
Methods
A Markov decision model including ten health states and death was developed, and a 3-month Markov cycle and lifetime horizon were adopted. Transition probabilities and quality of life were estimated from three randomized trials and from additional reports in the literature. Analysis was performed in the context of the Italian National Health System. First- and second-order sensitivity analyses were made to test the robustness of the results. The mean European cost of dabigatran (€2.58/day) was assigned to each NOA.
Results
The incremental cost-utility ratio was below €25,000/quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) gained for each NOA and each CHADS2 level, but differences among drugs were found. This result was sensitive to the time in (warfarin) therapeutic range and time horizon.
Conclusions
Our analysis suggests that NOAs are a cost-effective treatment for the prevention of stroke in patients with NVAF in the Italian healthcare setting
Cost-utility of inhaled corticosteroids in patients with moderate-to-severe asthma.
No full textDifferent inhaled corticosteroids can be used to treat asthma but their relative efficacy on quality of life and relative economic impact are mostly unknown. A decision model compared the cost–utility of beclomethasone, beclomethasone-extrafine, fluticasone and budesonide in adult patients with either moderate or severe persistent asthma. The patients’ health state was described by the Asthma Symptom Utility Index. Patients’ consumption of healthcare resources, according to the health state, was elicited by a Delphi Panel. Within 2 months, beclomethasone-extrafine prolonged quality-adjusted life by 0.5–2.3 days, as compared with the other inhaled corticosteroids, and reduced asthma-related per patient costs by €12–67
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
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