Published: 03-10-2017

Our database updates daily with new papers of relevance to health economics and outcomes research. In this blog, we are summarising the most important new additions this month, updating the blog as we add more papers. 

Patient reported outcome studies

• Quality of life, measured on the SF-36, was impaired in adults in China having thyroidectomy for papillary thyroid cancer compared with the general public; although values improved over time, they remianed below that of the matched controls at 2 years. Gou 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Quality of life in caregivers of youth with Down's syndrome is lower than that of other caregivers of youth, measured on the Pediatric Quality of Life Questionnaire; obesity also has a negative impact  on quality of life in youth without Down's syndrome. Xanthopoulos 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Intra-articular injections of ozone significantly reduce pain and SF-36 values and improve function after 8 weeks compared with placebo in adults with knee osteoarthritis in Brazil. Lopes de Jesus 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Pulmonary arterial hypertension has major impact on quality of life, work opportunities for caregivers and patients in China. Zhai 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Patient assessment of  disease activity using a web app version of the RAPID3/4 instrument correlated well with physician DAS28 scores in patients with rheumatoid arthritis in Switzerland. Walker 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Collaborative care improved quality of life on SF-12, Self Care in Heart Failure index scores and cardiac function compared with usual care in Chinese adults with chronic heart failure. Hua 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• 4.57% of obese patients waiting for bariatric surgery in Brazil had asthma; a worse AQLQ quality of life score was associated with worse lung function. Baltieri 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Quality of life, measured on the EQ-5D, was significantly higher in patients with chronic venous leg ulcers who received a matrix metalloproteinase modulated dressing compared with a lipocolloid matrix control dressing in France. Meaume 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Symptoms and quality of life were significantly improved with a mobile app compared with usual care in women with urinary stress incontinence in Sweden. Hoffman 2017 Go to paper in PubMed
• Inpatient rehabilitation did not improve knee pain and function, but increased costs, compared with usual care in adults in Australia undergoing uncomplicated total knee arthroplasty. Naylor 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Quality of life, on the EORTC QLQ-OES18, was the same in adults in France with inoperable non-metastatic oesophageal cancer treated with either FOLFOX or fluorouracil plus cisplatin as part of chemoradiotherapy. Bascoul-Mollevi 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Quality of life, measured with the SF-36, was significantly lower in adults with chronic renal failure than those with hypertension in the UK. Rogan 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• A systematic review found that proton beam radiotherapy improved quality of life in head and neck, brain, lung and paediatric cancers compared with standard radiotherapy, but had less benefit in breast and prostate cancers. Verma 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• The minimal important change was determined for Dutch versions of the Oxford Elbow Score and Quick Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand in people with elbow dislocations; these tools were validated against the EQ-5D, SF-36 and Mayo Elbow Performance Index. Iordens 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Quality of life on the FACT-G score did not deteriorate after 48 weeks of everolimus therapy compared with placebo in adutls with advanced, well-differentiated gastrointestinal or lung neuroendocrine tumours. Pavel 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Counselling about nuisance bleeding improves EQ-5D values, reduces anxiety and depression, and reduces withdrawal from treatment in patients taking dual antiplatelet therapy in Italy. Biscaglia 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• A new HERQL tool was developed and validated against the EQ-5D for people having repair of inguinal hernia in Taiwan. Huang 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• A simplified Chinese version of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament Return to Sport after Injury (ACL-RSI) tool was validated against the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome score, International Knee Documentation Committee scale, Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia and Tegner Activity Score in Chinese adults. Chen 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Functional health literacy is linked to higher educational and social quality of life domains in Brazilian adolescents. Rocha 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Quality of life, measured using the EQ-5D, SF-36, FACIT-F, Health Assessment Questionnaire and Work Productivity and Activity Impairment questionnaires was higher in patients with rheumatoid arthritis who were treated with baricitinib compared with those receiving adalimumab or placebo. Keystone 2017 Go to paper on PubMed

Costs and resource use studies

• Operative closures for atrial septal defects have increased and transcatheter repairs have decreased in US children since 2013. O'Byrne 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Readmission rates after total hip or knee arthroplasty in the US are 4% to 5%, with 33% to 35% of readmissions caused by infections. Zawadzki 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• GP consultation rates for chickenpox have been falling since reaching a peak in 2007; in the white population, children under 3 are the most likely to consult, but the mean age is higher in black and Asian populations. Walker 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Readmissions occurred within 30 days in 22.8% of in US patients with congestive heart failure; risks were higher in men, African Americans, with more comorbidities and Medicare coverage. Mirkin 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• 86% of the variability in thyroidectomy time in France is due to pre-operative factors, in particular the surgeon's experience, centre type and patient variables. Patoir 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• A review found that patient- and family-centred care interventions reduce length of stay for patients in ICU but do not reduce mortality. Goldfarb 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• A systematic review found that 52.5% of patients with chronic hepatitis C infection are eligible for antiviral therapy globally; of these, 60% receive therapy. Vutien 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Empiric treatment with proton pump inhibitors twice or four time daily was more expensive than testing with manometry in patients with suspected laryngopharyngeal reflux in the US. Carroll 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Initial telephone triage reduced GP face-to-face consultations and waiting times to be seen, but slightly increased overall GP time and hospital admissions compared with usual care in the UK. Newbould 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• The additional costs of programmable ventriculoperitoneal shunts were partly offset by the additional costs incurred due to more complications from the use of non-programmable shunts in normal pressure hydrocephalus in Turkey. Seraslan 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• 57% of eligible adults received an implantable defibrillator after an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Canada; 17% of those categorised as ineligible also received a defibrillator. Ho 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• The median Medicare health expenditure in women aged 65 years and older with uterine cancer in the US was $7,645 in the last month of life; 42.5% received high-intensity treatments at a median cost of $16,173 for the last month of life. Margolis 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• 30-day readmission rates were 3.4% in children undergoing laparoscopy for acute appendicitis in the US, at a mean cost of $8304 per readmission. Buicko 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• A pre-operative smoking cessation programme reduced post-operative complications in patients undergoing elective colorectal resection, and saved a mean $304 per patient compared with usual care in the US. Gaskill 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Patients undergoing lung transplants in the US had 50% higher median costs if they also received extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO); costs were also higher in patients with pulmonary hypertension, African Americans and Medicare enrollees. Hyanga 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Thromboprophylaxis use increased in Swedenbetween 2011 and 2015 for adults with atrial fibrillation, and sex differences have been largely eradicated since the introduction of oral anticoagulants. Loikas 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Introduction of a law mandating screening for Hepatitis C in adults born between 1945 and 1965 increased tests by around 50% and 11 to 40% more adults received care for HCV in the first year. Flanigan 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Training nursing home staff to administer IV fluids and antibiotics significantly reduced admissions to hospital in residents in Norway, mortality rates were non-significantly higher in those who were treated at the nursing home compared with the hospital. Romoren 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Costs of percutaneous coronary intervention were lower in general hospitals compared with teaching hospitals in Malaysia, due in part to shorter length of stay and fewer comorbidities in patients treated at general hospitals. Lee 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• The cost of an episode of cholera in rural Malawi was estimated to be $65.6 for the patient's household and $59.7 for healthcare facilities; 52% of households have to use coping strategies to cover their costs. Ilboudo 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Costs of testing for HIV infection at healthcare facilites were US$79.58 per positive case identified in Malawi, $73.63 per case in Zambia and $178.92 per case in Zimbabwe. Mwenge 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• The use of low-value services such as imaging, stenting and laminectomy, cost $317.6 million in 2014 for commercially-insured adults aged 50 years and older in the US, and $100.8 million for those with Medicare Advantage coverage. Carter 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Changes in people being shortlisted for liver transplant will mean more drop off the waiting list before surgery in the US, with fewer patients with Hepatitis C and more older patients with fatty liver. Yi 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Collaboration between the public and private healthcare sector and the use of telemedicine reduced waiting times for tympanoplasty for otitis media in Indigenous Australian children, and reduced total costs. Jacups 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• A clinical pharmacist intervention reduced inappropriate prescribing of acid suppressants in patients undergoing elective hepatobiliary surgery in China; the savings were 13.6 times greater than the cost of the intervention. Luo 2017 Go to paper on PubMed

Economic evaluation studies

• Left ventricular assist devices are not cost-effective for people with heart failure who are not eligible for a heart transplant in Canada, with an ICER of $230,692 per QALY gained. Chew 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Whole exome sequencing at the time of initial tertiary care consultation is cost-effective in Australian children with suspected monogenic disorders, saving A$9020 per new diagnosis compared with the usual diagnostic pathway. Tan 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• The likely savings from following the conclusions of RCTs in perinatal health care exceed the costs of the RCTs if findings are implemented for 10% or more of the eligible population in Australia and New Zealand. Pham 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Multidisciplinary management is cost-effective in adults with heart failure in the US compared with usual care, with an ICER of $976 per life-year gained; an exercise therapy programme was not cost-effective ($165,702/LYG). Dang 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Screening for HLA-B*58:01 genotype before starting allopurinol for gout is unlikely to be cost-effective in the UK, with an ICER of £44,954 per QALY gained. Plumpton 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Point-of-care testing in ambulatory care for influenza vaccine in elderly people in China is cost-effective, with an ICER of US$29,582/QALY saved. You 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• A quality improvement programme to reduce maternal deaths and stillbirths in Ghana was cost-effective, with an ICER of $158/DALY averted.Goodman 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Implementation of the 2013 ACC/AHA guidelines that expanded the use of statins to universal coverage would be cost-effective in men aged 45 to 74 years and women aged 55 to 74 years in the US, with 68 people needed to be treated for 10 years to gain 1 QALY.  Heller 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Adding mechanical thrombectomy to thrombolysis is cost-effective in people with acute ischaemic stroke in France, with an ICER of $14 881 per QALY compared with thrombolysis alone. Achit 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Screeeing US adults for depression with the Patient Health Questionnaire -2 and -9, followed by collaborative care, was cost-effective, with an ICER of $10,594 per QALY gained compared with usual care. Jiao 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• A systematic review concluded that pharmacist-led medication management is cost-effective in residential aged care facilities. Hasan 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Home safety assessment and modification (HSAM) is a cost-effective way to prevent falls in the elderly  in New Zealand, with an ICER of NZ$5,480 per QALY gained in adults aged 65 and older. Wilson 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• A systematic review of economic evaluations of diagnostic tests in Brazil found that many failed to report key methodological details. Oliveira 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• A polypill is likely to be cost-effective in most subgroups in the UK compared with optimal primary prevention of cardiovascular disease if the annual cost is less than £150 for the polypill. Jowett 2017 Go to paper on Pubmed
• A review of economic evaluations of self management in chronic musculoskeletal pain found that 65% used a societal perspective, but that cost data included in the analyses was very heterogeneous. Hernon 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• A national vaccination programme against enterovirus 71 to prevent hand, foot and mouth disease and herpangina in Chinese children is likely to be cost-effective if the cost is less than $14.6 per dose, and would be cost-saving at less than $5.2 per dose. Wang 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Gene expression classifier testing of indeterminate thyroid nodules reduced the rate of surgery by 13% compared with usual care in the US, but costs were £2399 higher. Shapiro 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• The use of transarterial chemoembolisation (TACE), with or without sorafenib, is  the most cost-effective non-curative palliative treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma in Canada, with an ICER of $6,665/QALY gained compared with no treatment or best supportive care. Thein 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Screening for melanoma in Australia has decreased mortality since 1982; the cost-effectiveness was low, but will increase over time. Gilmore 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• The costs per episode of hand foot and mouth disease in China range from $201 for mild outpatients to $3051 for severe cases; EQ-5D-based QALY losses range from 3.6 per 1,000 mild cases to 13.7/1000 severe cases. Zheng 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Adding palbociclib to letrozole is not cost-effective in hormone receptor-positive advanced breast cancer in Canada, with an ICER of $10,999 per quality-adjusted life month. Raphael 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• PET-CT-guided management of neck dissection is cost-effective compared with usual surgical methods in head and neck cancer in the UK, saving £1485 and gaining 0.13 QALYs. Smith 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Trivalent influenza vaccination can be cost-effective in Thai children, depending on the season, with an ICER ranging between US$554 and US$24,450 per QALY gained in 2012 to 2014. Kittikraisak 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Two and three-dose schedules for rotavirus vaccination are both cost-effective in children in Norway, with break-even costs of the vaccines between 67 and 70 Euros. Hansen Edwards 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Screening adults with coronary heart disease or hypertension for depression, then offering patient-targeted feedback, has an 80% likelihood of being cost-effective in Germany compared with no feedback. Brettschneider 2017 Go to paper on PubMed

Mortality studies

• People who adhere to guidelines for cardiovascular disease prevention in France have significantly lower mortality than those who are poorly adherent. Berard 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Implementation of a pediatric sepsis protocol did not significantly reduce mortality or length of stay and may increase heart failure rates in Bangladesh, compared with usual care. Kortz 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Histological transformation occurs in 8% of patients with follicular lymphoma over 10 years in Spain; 5-year survival after transformation is 26%. Alonso-Alvarez 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• 15% of nonagenarians admitted to a cardiac intensive care unit in the US for acute heart failure or myocardial infarction died during the admission, median survival was 452 days. Rosenbaum 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• The use of telemetry increases the length of stay in patients admitted to hospital in the US with respiratory illness compared with usual care, and does not reduce 30- or 90-day mortality or readmission rates. Dawson 2017 Go to paper on PubMed 
• One-year survival increased over time in patients aged 80 years and older who were admitted to hospital with acute coronary syndrome in Israel between 2000 and 2013; outcomes were worse than in younger patients. Shechter 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Overall survival was not significantly different in patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy after oesophagectomy for locally-advanced oesophageal cancer in the US. Tiesi 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• 1- and 2-year overall survival was higher with chemoradiotherapy than radiotherapy alone in elderly patients with locally advanced oesophageal cancer who were unfit for surgery in China. Zho 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Age-adjusted 28-day mortality after acute myocardial infarction fell from 23.5% in 1987 to 8.5% in 2010 in Sweden; after adjusting for comorbidities, there were no sex differences in mortality. Berg 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Adults in Japan who drink 5 or more cups of coffee a day have lower incidence and mortality from cancer at any site compared with non-drinkers of coffee. Sado 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• 30-day mortality in adults in Spain aged 85+ years after elective surgery was 7.9%, with malnutrition, complexity and osteoporosis being the main predictors. Pelavski 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• The Pediatric Risk of Mortality Score was found to poorly predict mortality in US children who are critically ill with heart disease. Russell 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• 1-year mortality after on-pump cardiac surgery in Switzerland was 7%; a troponin level of>0.8 micrograms/litre on day 1 after surgery, that then increased by more than 10% on day 2, predicted mortality. Mauermann 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• A raised gamma glutamyl transferase level was associated with a 2 to 3-fold increase in all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in adults with China with an ischaemic stroke. Tu 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Concomitant use of gabapentin in adults with chronic pain who also take opioids increases the risk of opioid-related death by nearly 60%; 46% of patients in Canada on gabapentin received at least one prescription for opioids in 2013. Gomes 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Mortality from Staph aureus bacteraemia fell in the US between 2003 and 2014; 57% of the decrease was due to better use of antibiotics, echocardiography and specialist infectious disease input. Goto 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Implementation of an early resuscitation programme with IV fluids, vasopressors and blood transfusion, increased mortality compared with usual care in adults with sepsis and hypotension in Zambia. Andrews 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• All-cause and colorectal cancer mortality was significantly lower in Japanese adults who had a negative colonoscopy compared with the general population. Niikura 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Median overall survival after gastrectomy for stomach cancer is 26.7 months in the Netherlands, with 30-day and 90-day mortality of 5% and 8% respectively; the day of the week on which the gastrectomy took place did not affect mortality rates. Visser 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Carfilzomib plus dexamethasone significantly increased overall survival compared with bortezomib plus dexamethasone in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. Dimopoulos 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• A protocol to increase admissions to ICU among critically ill elderly people in France increased ICU use but did not reduce 6-month mortality. Guidet 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Ultrasound-based surveillance does not increase survival in early melanoma compared with clinical follow-up in Italy and Spain. Ribero 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Critically ill adults admitted to ICU in South Korea have a 29% overall 90-day mortality rate; the risk of death is higher in those whose serum creatinine changed during admission compared with those with stable levels. Kang 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• 30% of patients with acute decompensated heart failure in the US had impaired renal function with an eGFR less than 30 ml/min/1,73 m2; this was independently associated with a reduced 1-year mortality. Matsushita 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• Lifetime risk of atrial fibrillation is >30% in middle aged men and women in European cohorts; the mortality rate is 3.5 times higher in those with AF than those without; about 20% of the risk is explained by body mass index. Magnussen 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• The risk of death is increased by 49% in North American adults with a prolonged QT interval, but the risk is limited to those with a longer T-wave onset to peak time. O'Neal 2017 Go to paper on PubMed
• An increase in serum potassium levels in middle life is associated with an increased risk of ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke and mortality in Swedish adults. Johnson 2017 Go to paper on PubMed