Published: 01-03-2019

The heoro.com database updates daily via a systematic search of PubMed for studies relevant to health economics and outcomes research. In this blog, we summarise some of the key papers added during the month of March 2019.

Studies reporting utility values

• SF-36 values were significantly lower in adults with venous leg ulcers than the population norms in New Zealand. Jull 2018 Go to paper on PubMed 
• A systematic review found that  there were significant improvements in SF-36 and Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (IBDQ) scores in the placebo arms of RCTs in inflammatory bowel disease. Estevinho 2018 Go to paper on PubMed
• Caregivers of patients with progressive breast cancer in Canada have lower utility values and greater productivity losses than caregivers of patients with progression-free disease. Lambert-Obry 2018 Go to paper on PubMed
• The mean rank method was the most accurate for mapping EQ-5D-5L to WHOQOL-BREF values in the Singapore general population. Wee 2018 Go to paper on PubMed
• A systematic review found that SF-36 values were not significantly different in people with ESRD who received online haemodiafiltration compared with haemodialysis. Suwabe 2018 Go to paper on PubMed
• Utility values derived from the UK general population for Gaucher disease using a time-trade-off methodology were 0.89 for controlled disease, 0.85 for oral treatment and 0.73 for intravenous treatment. Hadi 2018 Go to paper on PubMed 
• The Weight-Specific Adolescent Instrument for Economic Evaluation (WAItE) was mapped to Child Health Utility 9 Dimension (CHU-9D) utility scores in adolescents in the UK. Robinson 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• Mean utility values in the adult population in China were 0.95 on the EQ-5D-3LCN, 0.93 on the EQ-5D-3LUK and 0.79 on the SF-6DUK, with poor correlation between EQ-5D and SF-6D. Zhao 2019 Go to paper on PubMed

Studies validating a PRO instrument

• The Work Hoarse instrument, developed from the Voice-Related Statements instrument, Voice Handicap Index (VHI) and Work Productivity and Activity Impairment questionnaire (WPAI), was validated in employed adults with dysphonia in the USA. Zhu 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• The Primary Care Assessment Tool was too time-consuming and expensive to be useful for the routine assessment and planning of primary care services for children in Brazil. Ponnet 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• The quality of life in Alzheimer's disease scale (QoL-AD) proxy and nursing home version had weak inter-rater reliability for assessing quality of life in people with dementia living in nursing homes in Germany. Dichter 2018 Go to paper on PubMed
• The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life-Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-CIPN20) and the Functional Assessment of Cancer-Gynecologic Oncology Group-Neurotoxicity subscale (FACT/GOG-Ntx) were validated in China in patients with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). Cheng 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• The WHOQOL-BREF was validated against the EORTC QLQ-C30 in patients with advanced lung cancer in the Netherlands; minimal clinically important differences ranged from 0.88 to 2.72. de Mol 2018 Go to paper on PubMed
• The WHOQOL-BREF was validated in patients in Taiwan with head and neck, colorectal, liver, lung and female genital cancer. Lin 2018 Go to paper on PubMed
• The Manchester-Oxford Foot Questionnaire (MOXFQ) was validated against the SF-36 and Foot and Ankle Outcome Score (FAOS) in patients with foot or ankle surgery in Germany. Arbab 2018 Go to paper on PubMed
• The EF10 questionnaire had greater power to detect emotional functioning than the EORTC Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 four-item scale (EF4) in patients with colorectal or lung cancer in Europe. Jabbarian 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• The Patient Global Impression of Improvement (PGI-I) scale correlated well with the Clinical Global Impressions - Improvement (CGI-S), MADRS, LIFE-RIFT, SOFAS and Q-LES-Q scales in patients with bipolar and major depressive disorder in Australia. Mohebbi 2018 Go to paper on PubMed
• A systematic review found that the depression domain on the HADS correlates well with the Dermatology Life Quality Index in people with skin disorders. Ali 2018 Go to paper on PubMed
• The BODY-Q chest module was validated in patients undergoing chest contouring surgery for gynaecomastia, weight loss or gender reassignment. Klassen 2018 Go to paper on PubMed
• The Oxford Hip Score was validated against the EQ-5D and Harris Hip Score in patients with hip fracture or osteoarthritis in Romania. Haragus 2018 Go to paper on PubMed
• The Family Reported Outcome Measure (FROM-16) was validated against the WHOQOL-BREF in family members of patients with cancer in Thailand. Chantarasap 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• The Patient Health Questionnaire-Depression-4, a four-item short form of the PHQ-9, was validated in English-speaking participants with depression. Ishihara 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• The minimal clinically important difference in the Minnesota Living With Heart Failure questionnaire was 3.59 to 19.14 points in patients hospitalised for heart failure in Spain.  Gonzalez-Saenz de Tejada 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• Scores on the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), Oxford Hip Score (OHS), EQ5D-3L (EQ5D), and Self-Administered Patient Satisfaction Scale (SAPS) varied by mode of collection (self-administration, face to face, telephone or postal) in patients after hip arthroplasty in the UK. Carpenter 2018 Go to paper on PubMed

Other PRO studies

• Nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP), assessed on the pregnancy-unique quantification of emesis (PUQE) questionnaire, was reported by 88% of 2,411 pregnant women in Finland and was severe in 6.4%; multiparity significantly increased the risk of severe NVP. Ellila 2018 Go to paper on PubMed
• A systematic review found that the pooled prevalence of depression in people with myocardial infarction was 28.7%, ranging from 9% to 66% across studies. Feng 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• A systematic review found that mean EORTC QLQ-C30 scores were 57.88 in Iranian patients with breast cancer; mean WHOQOL-BREF scores were 66.79. Bouya 2018 Go to paper on PubMed
• Pilates exercises for 12 weeks significantly improved quality of life in people in Iran with chronic kidney disease compared with controls. Rahimimoghadam 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• Providing free eye glasses reduced anxiety in children with myopia in China who had high study intensity but increased anxiety in children who studied less intensely. Guan 2018 Go to paper on PubMed

Cost and resource use studies

• The mean direct cost of hospitalisation for acute stroke was US$6961 per patient in the Lebanon, an average of US$538 per hospital day. Abdo 2018 Go to paper on PubMed
• Total direct and indirect costs of varicella in children in Poland in 2010-2015 was €1198 per case for inpatients and €245 for outpatients. Wysocki 2018 Go to paper on PubMed
• Community-acquired pneumonia is significantly higher in people with cancer than the general population of Germany, and increased total costs by €4,111 to €9,826 per case. Schmedt 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• 16% of Australian women experienced headache or migraine during pregnancy and more than 20% sought help from more than 2 types of healthcare professionals, including alternative medicine practitioners. Peng 2018 Go to paper on PubMed
• Average 1-year total costs of managing COPD in Canada between 2006 and 2013 were higher in patients with a higher blood eosinophilic cell counts at initial hospital admission for COPD exacerbation than those without eosinophilia, $3,667 vs $2,472, p=0.006. Poder 2018 Go to paper on PubMed
• Patients in the US who have comorbid diabetes and hypertension incur $4607 higher annual healthcare costs if they also have depression, $2481 higher costs if they have anxiety and $8709 higher costs if they have both depression and anxiety. Wallace 2018 Go to paper on PubMed
• Mean annual healthcare costs of multiple sclerosis were US$778 per patient in Panama in 2017 and societal costs were US$23,803. Gracia 2018 Go to paper on PubMed
• Invasive mucormycosis increased costs of admission by €32991 per patient in Germany in 2003-2016, with length of stay 26.5 days longer; mortality was 41%. Heimann 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• A systematic review concluded that costs of type 2 diabetes in low and lower-middle income countries were US$29.91 to US$237.38 per patient per year; annual direct costs were US$106.53 to 293.79, indirect costs were US$1.92 to 73.4 per person. Afroz 2018 Go to paper on PubMed
• A systematic review of studies published since 2000 found that immigrants to the USA paid more toward their medical expenses than they withdrew from private or public insurance. Flavin 2018 Go to paper on PubMed 
• Comorbid mental illnesses increased length of stay by 45% and total costs by 23% in adults hospitalised in the USA with beta-thalassaemia. Patel 2019 Go to paper on PubMed

Economic evaluations

• The ICER for panitumumab plus mFOLFOX6 was $135,391/QALY compared with bevacizumab plus mFOLFOX6 for first-line therapy of metastatic colorectal cancer in the US. Graham 2018 Go to paper on PubMed
• A diet intervention to reduce weight in post-partum women in Sweden was cost-effective, improving EQ-5D and SF-36 values with an ICER of US$1704 to 7889/QALY. Hagberg 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• A systematic review found heterogeneous economic evaluations in atopic dermatitis treatment and prevention that suggested a high socioeconomic impact of AD and unmet needs. Gutknecht 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• A systematic review of economic evaluations concluded that trastuzumab was generally cost-effective in early stage HER2-positive breast cancer. Petrou 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• A systematic review concluded that vaccination against human papillomavirus is cost-effective in developed countries, with an ICER of I$25,132/QALY for HPV 6, 11, 16, 18 vaccine and I$38,253/QALY for HPV 16, 18 vaccine. Kostaras 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• A systematic review of economic evaluations in inflammatory bowel disease found that biologicals were cost-effective 41% of the time at a threshold of CAD$50,000/QALY and 62% of the time at CAD$100,000/QALY. Jean 2018 Go to paper on PubMed
• Genotype-guided therapy with naltrexone or acamprosate is cost-effective in patients with alcohol-use disorders in the Netherlands, with an ICER of €13,350/QALY. Sluiter 2018 Go to paper on PubMed
• Bariatric surgery is cost-effective for morbid obesity in the UK, reducing costs and increasing QALYs compared with usual care. Borisenko 2018 Go to paper on PubMed
• Local radiation ($225,399 for 15.40 life-years) and phototherapy ($344,728 to $371,741 for 15 LYs) were the most cost-effective treatments for stage IA mycosis fungoides in the US. Xia 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• A systematic review found that stem cell therapy was cost-saving and improved QALYs in stroke, Parkinson's disease and progressive multiple sclerosis. Nagpal 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• Voretigene Neparvovec is unlikely to be cost-effective for biallelic RPE65-mediated inherited retinal disease in the USA, with an ICER of $643,800/QALY from a healthcare perspective and $480,100/QALY from a  modified societal perspective. Zimmermann 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• A systematic review of economic evaluations found that 60% of exercise programs in chronic diseases were dominant or cost-effective overall, as were 72% of those used in musculoskeletal or rheumatologic disorders. Guillon 2018 Go to paper on PubMed
• Intravitreal dexamethasone implants are cost-saving in Spain in adults with diabetic macular degeneration compared with aflibercept and ranibizumab, saving €41 to €350 per patient per year over 3 years. Cervera 2018 Go to paper on PubMed

Studies reporting mortality rates or trends

• Maternal mortality in rural China decreased from 63.0 per 100,000 live births in 2005 to 21.1/100,000 live births in 2017. Wang 2019 Go to paper on PubMed
• Median overall survival in gastric cancer in Brazil was 16 months, with no significant differences across age groups. Cormedi 2018 Go to paper on PubMed
• Mortality due to breast cancer increased in Europe with increasing age, from 11.7% in age 75 years; the difference was not significant after adjusting for tumour and treatment characteristics. Derks 2018 Go to paper on PubMed
• Mortality in people hospitalised with heart failure decreased in the US 2002 to 2013 but dialysis-requiring acute kidney injury doubled from 0.51% to 1.09% and doubled the risk of mortality. Correa 2018 Go to paper on PubMed
• Mortality associated with patients admitted to ICU for a thunderstorm asthma event was 14% in Australia, 2016; the event used 15% of public ICU beds in the region. Darvall 2018 Go to paper on PubMed