Search results

Health and efficiency concepts -- Efficiency measurement techniques -- Measuring efficiency in health services -- Application of efficiency measurement in health services -- Advanced applications and recent developments -- Future directions

<i>Objectives:</i> This paper models costs and benefits of a population screening programme for pregnant women to detect fragile X syndrome. Given the high lifetime costs of fragile X and the high sensitivity and specificity of testing, such a programme may seem attractive. <i>Methods:</i> Economic evaluation. <i>Results:</i> Our base case results indicate that such a programme seems close to cost neutral, so may indeed seem attractive for this reason. However, sensitivity analysis shows that assumptions regarding lifetime costs are crucial to results; our results suggest if lifetime costs are under AUD 2.5 million, costs of screening will exceed future costs avoided. <i>Conclusions:</i> Economic modelling of screening programmes reveals valuable information which might have an influence on the debate on the social value of a population screening programme for fragile X in pregnant women.

Using a 29‐year (1978–2006) panel of provincial‐level data from China, this article investigates the role of health capital in a human capital model of economic output. Robust evidence is found through panel cointegration analysis that health capital has a significant and positive effect on the Gross Regional Product in China; the effect being stronger in the inland regions compared to the coastal areas based on estimates that account for regional heterogeneity. This article highlights and discusses the potential role of diminishing returns to health investment in this globally important area. (JEL I15, R11, C23)

Background In the US military, chlamydia is the mostly commonly diagnosed bacterial sexually transmitted infection and the rates of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) have remained high since the early 2000s. Methods The relationship between the number of chlamydia diagnoses and hazard of PID was investigated in a retrospective cohort analysis among US Army women from 2006 to 2012. Cox regression model was used to estimate hazard ratios for associations between the number of repeat chlamydia diagnoses and PID. Results The study population comprised 33,176 women with chlamydia diagnosis. Of these, 25,098 (75%) were diagnosed only once ("nonrepeaters"). By comparison, 6282 (19%), 1435 (4%), and 361 (1%) women had one, two and three repeat chlamydia diagnoses, respectively. Among these 4 groups, 1111, 325, 72, and 25 PID diagnoses were noted. According to the Cox regression analysis, for every additional diagnosis of chlamydia, the hazard of PID increased by 28% (95% confidence interval, 19%–38%) compared with women with a single diagnosis or nonrepeaters. Moreover, the corresponding adjusted hazard ratio of 1.28, 1.35, and 1.97 represented a significantly greater risk for PID among the three "repeater" groups compared with nonrepeaters. Conclusions We found an increased hazard of PID among US Army women with repeat chlamydia diagnoses and the characterization of a dose-response relationship. These findings reinforce the notion that early diagnosis and treatment of chlamydia is necessary to avoid subsequent PID and associated morbidity.