Methodological issues for the economic evaluation of health interventions: a concise state of the art

This paper presents a preliminary report of the Italian Society of Medical Statistics and Clinical Epidemiology (SISMEC) working group called SiPrEMAS (Evidence Synthesis and Decision Modelling in Health) collating some topics addressed throughout the first two years of collaboration. It contains a rapid overview of the principal methods used for the economic evaluation of health interventions. Special focus is given to the process of assembling and pooling the available evidence, modeling methods, the analysis of uncertainty (structural and on parameters), cost analysis and cost consequences analysis. This paper intends to stimulate the discussion among different professionals involved in the decision making process at national level, trying to (re)bridge the gap between decision makers and researchers

Erratum to: Distribution and trends in mesothelioma mortality in Italy from 1974 to 2006

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Production, efficiency and corruption in Italian Serie A : a DEA analysis

This paper uses data from Italian Serie A football to analyse the technical efficiency of Italian football clubs , utilising a panel dataset comprising season aggregated match statistics over ten seasons from 2000/01 to 2009/10 inclusive . While there has been considerable research on production and efficiency in most of the major European football leagues , corresponding evidence relating to Serie A is limited. T his paper addresses this imbalance , e stimating a production function for the league and the relative efficiency of 36 teams , taking into consideration the impact of the Calciopoli corruption scan dal in 2006 . To achieve this , Da ta Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models ha ve been used to calculate the frontiers of efficient production. The results highlight how playing style has changed in response to the corruption scandal , emphasizing the importance of attacking play in Serie A

Prevalence of gastroschisis at birth: Retrospective study

[No abstract available

Puntualizzazioni, ragguagli documentari e nuove ipotesi su Christopher Hewetson

The aim of this essay is to investigate some aspects of the life and work of the Irish sculptor Christopher Hewetson, who died in Rome 1798. This research involved, on the one hand, the analysis of the historical-artistic context, and on the other, an attempt to reconstruct the artist’s life on the basis of documentary evidence in Roman archives such as the Historical Archive of the Diocese, the State Archives and the Archive of the Arcadia Academy at the Angelica Library. The material examined is especially plentiful in consideration of the discovery of the sculptor’s last will and testament and the inventory of his property and information on his connections with the members of the Arcadia Academy

Public reporting on individual hospitals’ quality: the risk of misinformation

Obiettivo: benché con sempre maggiore frequenza i mass media riportino informazioni sulla qualità dei servizi, spesso con l’esplicito intento di individuare i «migliori», la comunicazione di questi temi avviene attraverso modalità che o sono troppo semplicistiche nel loro sforzo di confrontare le performance cliniche dei singoli centri, o ricorrono a indicatori di qualità inadeguati. In tale senso, queste informazioni possono facilmente portare a interpretazioni errate. Questo lavoro considera due esempi concreti per evidenziare il problema. Metodi: sono stati utilizzati due casi recenti di comunicazione attraverso i mass media delle performance cliniche di centri cardiochirurgici: i risultati dello studio BPAC «Esiti a breve termine di interventi di by-pass coronarico nelle cardiochirurgie italiane», coordinato dall’ISS, e la pubblicazione sulla rivista Panorama di quelle che erano definite come le migliori cardiochirurgie italiane sulla base di un indice di reputazione. Risultati: il primo dei casi citati evidenzia i problemi della rappresentazione delle performance con semplici league tables. Con un metodo basato su Markov Chain Monte Carlo si evince che il ricorso alle classifiche, pur basate su un corretto indicatore di esito, è un esercizio potenzialmente fuorviante. Nel secondo caso, si dimostra l’inaffidabilità di un indice reputazionale utilizzato come indicatore della qualità dei servizi. Conclusione: le modalità con cui si comunica al pubblico la qualità dei servizi sono ancora largamente inadeguate e quindi potenzialmente fuorvianti nell’indirizzare le scelte dei cittadini

Mise en place de l’autocontrôle : ce que cela implique dans vos exploitations

Suite à une directive européenne, la mise en place d’un système de gestion de la sécurité des denrées alimentaires est devenue obligatoire en Belgique. Outre la création de l’Agence Fédérale pour la Sécurité de la Chaîne Alimentaire, une législation en matière d’autocontrôle de notification obligatoire et de traçabilité a été mise en place. Les agriculteurs qui transforment et commercialisent leur production sont directement concernés. Nous vous proposons de mettre en avant quelques conséquences pratiques qui en découlent et l’encadrement proposé par Gembloux en la matièr

A systematic review of the economic impact of rapid diagnostic tests for dengue.

BACKGROUND: Dengue fever is rapidly expanding geographically, with about half of the world's population now at risk. Among the various diagnostic options, rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) are convenient and prompt, but limited in terms of accuracy and availability. METHODS: A systematic review was conducted of published data on the use of RDTs for dengue with respect to their economic impact. The search was conducted with combinations of key search terms, including "((Dengue[Title]) AND cost/economic)" and "rapid diagnostic test/assay (or point-of-care)". Articles with insufficient report on cost/economic aspect of dengue RDTs, usually on comparison of different RDTs or assessment of novel rapid diagnostic tools, were excluded. This review has been registered in the PROSPERO International prospective register of systematic reviews (registry #: CRD42015017775). RESULTS: Eleven articles were found through advanced search on Pubmed. From Embase and Web of Science, two and 14 articles were obtained, respectively. After removal of duplicate items, title screening was done on 21 published works and 12 titles, including 2 meeting abstracts, were selected for abstract review. For full-text review, by two independent reviewers, 5 articles and 1 meeting abstract were selected. Among these, the abstract was referring to the same study results as one of the articles. After full text review, two studies (two articles and one abstract) were found to report on cost-wise or economic benefits of dengue RDTs and were selected for data extraction. One study found satisfactory performance of IgM-based Panbio RDT, concluding that it would be cost-effective in endemic settings. The second study was a modeling analysis and showed that a dengue RDT would not be advantageous in terms of cost and effectiveness compared to current practice of antibiotics prescription for acute febrile illness. CONCLUSIONS: Despite growing use of RDTs in research and clinical settings, there were limited data to demonstrate an economic impact. The available two studies reached different conclusions on the cost-effectiveness of dengue RDTs, although only one of the two studies reported outcomes from cost-effectiveness analysis of dengue and the other was considering febrile illness more generally. Evidence of such an impact would require further quantitative economic studies

Football team performance efficiency and effectiveness in a corruptive context: the Calciopoli case

Research question: While considerable research on production and efficiency is mostly on all European football leagues, corresponding evidence relating to the Italian Serie A is limited. To address this imbalance, this paper analyses the technical efficiency and effectiveness of Italian football clubs, taking into consideration the impact of the Calciopoli corruption scandal in 2006. This allows assessment of how clubs' efficiency and effectiveness were affected by the sanctions inflicted on the clubs involved in the scandal. Research methods: Utilising a panel dataset comprising season aggregated match statistics over ten seasons from 2000/01 to 2009/10, this paper estimates a production function for the league and, then, calculates the relative offensive and defensive efficiency and the football effectiveness of 36 teams. To achieve this, DEA models have been used to calculate the frontiers of efficient production. Results and findings: The results partially confirm the evidence of the literature but they also reveal how playing style changed, emphasising the importance of attacking play at the expense of defensive play in Italian Serie A. Clubs that suffered a points deduction following their involvement in the Calciopoli scandal changed their usual tactical behaviour, presumably to compensate for the impact of these punishments