Published: 02-03-2020

We update the heoro.com database every day with new studies relevant to health economics and outcomes research. In this blog we summarise some of the key studies added throughout March 2020.

Studies reporting utility values

• Median EQ-VAS scores were 80.0 in patients with Crohn's disease and 70.0 in ulcerative colitis in Brazil, median SF-36 PCS scores were 46.6 in Crohn's and 44.7 in UC, and SF-36 MCS scores were 45.2 in Crohn's and 44.2 in UC. Parra 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• Mean utility value in people with chronic kidney disease in Sri Lanka was 0.540 using the EQ-5D-3L and 0.534 using the SF-6D, with correlation between the two of 0.40; the SF-6D was more discriminatory for stages of disease. Kularatna 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• Mothers who had lower SF-12 PCS scores in late pregnancy and lower MCS scores throughout pregnancy were more likely to have low birth-weight babies than those with higher quality of life scores. Bai 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• A systematic review found similar SF-36 scores in children with long-gap and non-long-gap oesophageal atresia. Tan Tanny 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• EQ-5D values were significantly better at 1 month but significantly worse at 6 months in patients having endoscopic stent for incurable stage IV colorectal cancer in Italy than those with surgical resection. Fiori 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• Mean SF-36 PCS scores were 64.67 and MCS scores were 52.50 in patients with acute leukaemia in China; mean Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Leukemia (FACT-Leu) scores were 76.80. Wang 2020 Go to paper on PubMed
• EQ-5D values and C-CAP symptom severity scores significantly improved for 1 year after catheter ablation for cardiac arrhythmias in the UK. Evans 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• SF-12 scores and respiratory symptoms were similar in cigarette smokers and waterpipe smokers in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Oman and significantly worse than in non-smokers. Hawari 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• SF-36 scores significantly improved after weight loss from intragastric balloon therapy for 6 months in obese people in Brazil. Guedes 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• EQ-5D values improved to a similar extent in women undergoing hysterectomy versus myomectomy for symptomatic uterine leiomyomas in the USA; activity and energy/mood subscales were higher after myomectomy. Nicholson 2019 Go to paper on PubMed

Studies validating a PRO instrument

• The HepaDisk questionnaire was validated against the SF-36, Chronic Liver Disease Questionnaire (CLDQ) and Work Productivity and Activity Impairment (WPAI) questionnaires in people with chonic hepatitis C in Italy. Fagiuoli 2019 Go to paper on PubMed 
• The ASCOT-Carer, Carer Experience Scale and EQ-5D were shown to capture separate aspects of providing unpaid care in caregivers who used long-term social service support in the UK. Rand 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• An IPF-specific version of the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) was validated against the King's Brief Interstitial Lung Disease questionnaire (K-BILD), University of California, San Diego Shortness of Breath Questionnaire (SOBQ) and Short Form-36 (SF-36) in people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in Denmark. Prior 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• The Decision Tool Unipolar Depression (DTUD) was validated against the Maudsley Staging Method (MSM) and the Dutch Measure for quantification of Treatment Resistance in Depression (DM-TRD) as a measure of need for highly specialised care for major depression in the Netherlands. van Krugten 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• The Diabetes Stress Questionnaire-Short Form (DSQ-SF) was validated as a measure of stress in youths with type 1 diabetes in the USA. Klages 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• The Hallym Post Micturition Dribble Questionnaire (HPMDQ) was validated against the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) in men with post-micturition dribble in Korea. Jeong 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• A systematic review identified minimal clinically important differences in PRO tools to assess shoulder function, including ASES, Constant, DASH, Western Ontario Rotator Cuff Index and Shoulder Pain and Disability Index scores. Dabija 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• The EQ-5D was validated against the BASDAI, BASFI, BASGI, BASMI, ASDAS, ODI, HADS and SF-36 in people with spondyloarthritis in China. Tsang 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• The 6-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D6) was validated against the HAM-D17, SF-36 and WHOQOL-BREF in people with major depression, bipolar disorder and bipolar depression with mixed features in Brazil. Kieslich da Silva 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• The Traumatic Brain Injury Quality of Life Communication Item Bank (TBI-QOL COM) short form was validated as a parent-proxy measure in children with traumatic brain injury in the USA. Cohen 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• The SF-6D had the best construct validity of commonly-used tools in schizophrenia in the UK but missed negative symptoms; the SQLS captures complementary information. Franklin 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• The Chronic urticaria quality of life questionnaire (CU-Q2oL) was validated against the EQ-5D, SF-36 and DLQI in people with chronic urticaria in Portugal. Ferreira 2019 Go to paper on PubMed

Other PRO studies

• 45% of breast cancer survivors in Japan had chronic pain; quality of life was associated with Central Sensitization Inventory, Patient Health Questionnaire-2, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-2 scale scores. Manfuku 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• Listening to music significantly reduced pain and blood pressure during nasal bone fracture reduction in adults in Chile compared with controls. Ortega 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• Quality of life- Alzheimer's disease questionnaire scores were worse in patients with depression and unmet needs and better in Alzheimer's disease than frontotemporal dementia in people with young-onset dementia in Norway. Hvidsten 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• Parental proxy assessment of quality of life on the PedsQL was significantly lower than the self-report scores for children undergoing neurosurgery in the USA. Goethe 2020 Go to paper on PubMed
• A systematic review concluded that acupuncture may improve pain and symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. Seca 2019 Go to paper on PubMed

Studies reporting costs and resource use

• Avoiding premature deaths from obesity by a junk food tax would add over 8,000 additional working years and $307 million increase in present value of lifetime income in Australia between 2003 and 2030. Carter 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• 35% of adults resuscitated after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Switzerland in 2013 survived to hospital admission and 16% were discharged alive; median hospital costs were CHF 27,707 per patient. Ruch 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• 68% of patients hospitalised with pneumonia in the USA received excess antibiotic therapy, mainly those prescribed at discharge; each excess day of therapy was associated with 5% higher odds of adverse events. Vaughn 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• A systematic review found that costs of type 2 diabetes-related clinical cardiovascular and renal events in the Netherlands were highest for renal failure but estimates varied substantially across studies. van Schoonhoven 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• The median cost of admissions for status epilepticus in the USA in 2019 was an estimated $9295 for children and $15,595 for adults based on ICD-10 codes. Sanchez Fernandez 2019 Go to paper on PubMed 
• Median costs of admissions for stroke in a public hospital  in Brazil were US$2803 to $10,997 depending on revascularisation therapies (Safanelli 2019 Go to paper on PubMed); in private hospital, median costs of stroke admissions were US$3,827 to $35,092 (Viera 2019 Go to paper on PubMed).
• Costs of care for multiple sclerosis were 10.6% lower but less comprehensive when delivered with local services compared with a central MS care unit in Italy, with similar adherence rates. Moccia 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• 81% of patients with atopic dermatitis in the USA had at least 1 flare in 12 months, with greater productivity losses and worse quality of life than those without flares. Wei 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• Mean annual out-of-pocket costs for patients with atopic dermatitis in France were €462.1 for severe AD and €247.4 for moderate AD. Launois 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• Patients in China who received optimal medical therapy after acute coronary syndrome incurred lower total healthcare costs and fewer admissions in the following year than those not optimally treated. He 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• Direct social care costs increased with disease severity in people with Alzheimer's dementia or mild cognitive impairment in Japan. Takechi 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• Societal costs of in-hospital needlestick injury in Japan were estimated to be US$302 million per year, 70% due to laboratory tests and 20% lost productivity. Kunishima 2019 Go to paper on PubMed

Economic evaluations

• Universal hepatitis A vaccination would be cost-effective in the USA and Brazil compared with no vaccine, and would prevent 506,945 cases in the USA over 20 years and 42,318 cases in Rio de Janeiro. Ghildayal 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• Home biofeedback was cost-effective compared with office biofeedback in patients with dyssynergic defecation in the USA, with an ICER of $20,753/QALY gained. Rao 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• The value of a statistical life-year was $9340 in Tanzania, 4.5 times the mean per-capita income, based on willingness to pay for a 2% mortality risk reduction. Patenaude 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• Ceftazidime/avibactam (CAZ-AVI) is cost-effective compared with imipenem as empirical first-line therapy followed by second-line colistin + high-dose carbapenem for complicated urinary tract infections in Italy, with an ICER of €8039/QALY gained. Kongnakorn 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• Atezolizumab plus carboplatin and etoposide is not cost-effective as first-line therapy for small-cell lung cancer in the USA, with an ICER of $528,810/QALY gained compared with conventional chemotherapy alone. Zhou 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• Enzalutamide dominated abiraterone plus prednisone and was cost-effective compared with cabazitaxel plus prednisone in men with castration-resistant metastatic prostate cancer resistant to docetaxel in the USA. Barqawi 2019 Go to paper on PubMed

Studies reporting mortality rates and trends

• A study of 45 million deaths from 406 cities found a 10 microg/m increase in ozone in the current or previous day was associated with a relative risk of mortality of 1.0018 (95%CI 1.0012 to 1.0024). Vicedo-Cabrera 2020 Go to paper on PubMed
• Unadjusted 30-day mortality rates after STEMI in  Australia in 2005 to 2017 were 9.8% in women compared with 6.9% in men but gender was not an independent predictor of mortality after adjusting for longer ischaemic time, higher risk profiles and reduced use of guideline-based medical therapy in women. Murphy 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• Patients in the USA with diabetes mellitus in 2002-2014 had 7/1,000-person-years higher all-cause and 3.5/1000-P-Y higher cardiovascular mortality than people without diabetes, with lowest mortality risk in people with HbA1c of 6-6.9%. Raghavan 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• Reducing hypertension prevalence by 17% via dietary salt restriction would avert 24,300 deaths and 392,000 DALYs in Turkey by 2030 with savings 6.7 to 8.6 times higher than the costs of the strategy. Yurekli 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• Compared with a healthy weight, Australian adults aged 20-29 years who are overweight lose 3.3 years of life, those who are obese lose 5.6 to 7.6 years and the severely obese lose 8.1 to 10.3 years. Lung 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• The standardised mortality ratio was 2.5 in people with SLE in Sweden in 1981 to 2014; 51.7% of deaths were cardiovascular and 15% infections. Ingvarsson 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• A model of the spread of COVID-19 in China estimated a basic reproductive number of 2.68 and epidemic doubling time of 6.4 days. Wu 2020 Go to paper on PubMed
• Non-invasive ventilation increased oxygen saturation but did not decrease the need for intubation or mortality in early pneumonia-related mild acute respiratory distress syndrome compared with oxygen via Venturi mask in China. He 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• 28-day mortality in adults with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome in China 2013 to 2018 was 39.4% with extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) compared with 55.5% without ECMO, p=0.0097. Liu 2019 Go to paper on PubMed