1,721,047 research outputs found
Cost-effectiveness of prehabilitation prior to elective surgery: a systematic review of economic evaluations
No full textAbstract Background Prehabilitation aims at enhancing patients’ functional capacity and overall health status to enable them to withstand a forthcoming stressor like surgery. Our aim was to synthesise the evidence on the cost-effectiveness of prehabilitation for patients awaiting elective surgery compared with usual preoperative care. Methods We searched PubMed, Embase, the CRD database, ClinicalTrials.gov, the WHO ICTRP and the dissertation databases OADT and DART. Studies comparing prehabilitation for patients with elective surgery to usual preoperative care were included if they reported cost outcomes. All types of economic evaluations (EEs) were included. The primary outcome of the review was cost-effectiveness based on cost–utility analyses (CUAs). The risk of bias of trial-based EEs was assessed with the Cochrane risk of bias 2 tool and the ROBINS-I tool and the credibility of model-based EEs with the ISPOR checklist. Methodological quality of full EEs was assessed using the CHEC checklist. The EEs’ results were synthesised narratively using vote counting based on direction of effect. Results We included 45 unique studies: 25 completed EEs and 20 ongoing studies. Of the completed EEs, 22 were trial-based and three model-based, corresponding to four CUAs, three cost-effectiveness analyses, two cost–benefit analyses, 12 cost–consequence analyses and four cost-minimization analyses. Three of the four trial-based CUAs (75%) found prehabilitation cost-effective, i.e. more effective and/or less costly than usual care. Overall, 16/25 (64.0%) EEs found prehabilitation cost-effective. When excluding studies of insufficient credibility/critical risk of bias, this number reduced to 14/23 (60.9%). In 8/25 (32.0%), cost-effectiveness was unclear, e.g. because prehabilitation was more effective and more costly, and in one EE prehabilitation was not cost-effective. Conclusions We found some evidence that prehabilitation for patients awaiting elective surgery is cost-effective compared to usual preoperative care. However, we suspect a relevant risk of publication bias, and most EEs were of high risk of bias and/or low methodological quality. Furthermore, there was relevant heterogeneity depending on the population, intervention and methods. Future EEs should be performed over a longer time horizon and apply a more comprehensive perspective. Trial registration PROSPERO CRD42020182813.Gemeinsame Bundesausschuss http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100014840Technische Universität Berlin 50110000676
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
The PopGrouper as a tool for morbidity adjustment in regional comparisons of health care: an analytical framework
No full textAbstract Background Analyzing regional variations can help improve equity, efficiency, and quality in health care provision. The PopGrouper is a population-based classification system which classifies persons with similar health care needs into distinct groups. It exhibits a high degree of morbidity differentiation. We present an analytical framework to use the PopGrouper in examining regional variations across different outcomes and populations using routine patient-level data. Methods We develop a two-step empirical strategy to examine the relative regional performance on a set of efficiency and quality outcomes (e.g., hospital bed days, cost of care, mortality). First, we propose PopGroup-standardized observed-to-expected ratios to compare regional performance. Second, we develop a multilevel regression model to separately estimate regional variation related to patient need measured by the PopGroup and variation related to regional characteristics. Results We provide an analytical framework that demonstrates the PopGrouper’s application as a tool for morbidity adjustment in the assessment of relative regional performance in efficiency and quality outcomes and the regional characteristics that explain this performance. We provide suggestions for empirical notation, interpretation of results, and graphical analyses of findings. The developed framework will be applied in subsequent empirical papers. Conclusion This paper sets the analytical foundations to be applied in regional comparative analyses using the PopGrouper allowing for conclusions about unexplained variations in quality and efficiency of health care
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
Definition Zusammengefasster Krankheitsgruppen für ein Klassifikationssystem zur Messung des morbiditätsbezogenen Versorgungsbedarfs – PopGroup
Full text linkZusammenfassung Ziel In den letzten Jahren wurde verstärkt eine Morbiditätsorientierung in der Versorgungsstrukturplanung gefordert. Für die regional differenzierte Erhebung des Versorgungsbedarfs werden bevölkerungsbezogene Klassifikationssysteme benötigt, wie sie in verschiedenen Ländern bereits existieren. Das PopGroup Projekt hat zum Ziel, ein solches Klassifikationssystem (PopGrouper) für den deutschen Versorgungskontext zu entwickeln und verschiedene Anwendungen zu erproben. Der PopGrouper soll jede Person genau einer PopGroup zuordnen, die durch bestimmte klinische Eigenschaften und einen bestimmten Versorgungsbedarf charakterisiert ist. Das Ziel des ersten Schrittes der PopGrouper Entwicklung war es, als Basis für die Bildung von PopGroups, Diagnosen in medizinisch sinnvollen Gruppen zusammenzufassen – in sogenannten Zusammengefassten Krankheitsgruppen (ZKGs). Dieser Artikel befasst sich mit der Bildung und Validierung der ZKGs sowie mit der Definition eines Krankheitsschweregrads zu den entstandenen ZKGs. Methodik Die ZKGs wurden unter Einbeziehung medizinischer Expertise sowie Analysen der Routinedaten der BARMER-Krankenkasse gebildet. Dabei wurden bereits zuvor definierte Diagnosegruppen verwendet – die DxGs des morbiditätsorientierten Risikostrukturausgleichs. Zunächst wurden übergeordnete Makro-Krankheitsgruppen (MKGs) gebildet. Innerhalb der MKGs wurden die DxGs anhand definierter Kriterien zu ZKGs gruppiert. Die gebildeten ZKGs wurden durch Expert*innen wissenschaftlicher medizinischer Fachgesellschaften validiert. Abschließend wurde ein Krankheitsschweregrad anhand von drei Dimensionen (Mortalität, Kosten, Inanspruchnahme) sowie Schweregrad-Kategorien von „sehr schwer“ bis „sehr leicht“ definiert, um die ZKGs zu hierarchisieren. Ergebnisse Insgesamt wurden 32 MKGs und 433 ZKGs definiert und validiert. Jede ZKG erhielt einen Schweregrad-Score. Schlussfolgerung Die ZKGs und MKGs bilden einen wichtigen ersten Schritt der PopGrouper-Entwicklung. Auf dieser Grundlage konnten anschließend PopGroups gebildet werden, die diverse ZKGs und MKGs sowie Kombinationen berücksichtigen. Die Einteilung von Diagnosen in eine kleinere Anzahl medizinisch sinnvoller Gruppen bietet auch außerhalb des Projekts Möglichkeiten für die Versorgungsforschung, für die Analyse von Krankheiten sowie für die Identifikation von Versichertengruppen mit ähnlichen Eigenschaften
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
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
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