Feasibility Study of a Network Meta-Analysis and Unanchored Population-Adjusted Indirect Treatment Comparison of Niraparib, Olaparib, and Bevacizumab as Maintenance Therapies in Patients with Newly Diagnosed Advanced Ovarian Cancer

Selecting a first-line (1L) maintenance option for ovarian cancer is challenging given the variety of therapies, differing trials, and the lack of head-to-head data for angiogenesis and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors. Thus, indirect treatment comparisons (ITCs) can aid treatment decision making. This study assessed the feasibility of two ITCs, a network meta-analysis (NMA) and a population-adjusted ITC (PAIC), comparing the efficacy of the PARP inhibitor niraparib in the PRIMA trial (NCT02655016) with other 1L maintenance treatments. A systematic literature review was conducted to identify trials using the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions to assess differences in trial design, population characteristics, treatment arms, and outcome measures. All 12 trials identified were excluded from the NMA due to the absence of a common comparator and differences in survival measures and/or inclusion criteria. The PAIC comparing PRIMA and PAOLA-1 trials was also not feasible due to differences in inclusion criteria, survival measures, and the previous receipt of chemotherapy/bevacizumab. Neither ITC met recommended guidelines for analysis; the results of such comparisons would not be considered appropriate evidence when selecting 1L maintenance options in ovarian cancer. ITCs in this setting should be performed cautiously, as many factors can preclude objective trial comparisons

Mental health care reforms in Europe: Rehabilitation and social inclusion of people with mental illness in Russia

Long-established Medico-Social Expert Commissions (MSECs) play a pivotal role in the Russian mental health system. They act as gatekeepers to pensions, rehabilitation, and employment services. This column describes their role in encouraging or impeding the social inclusion of people with mental illness, drawing on findings of a three-year project in Sverdlovsk Oblast. In Russia the emphasis remains on medical aspects of treatment, without adequate consideration of social and occupational rehabilitation. Links with local employment services are weak. To promote social inclusion, steps must be taken to encourage and facilitate cooperation and collaboration between the MSECs, employment services, and medical services

Health-systems efficiency in the Russian Federation: tuberculosis control

OBJECTIVE: To conduct a comprehensive assessment of the case-mix of patients admitted to tuberculosis hospitals and the reasons for their admission in four Russian regions: Ivanovo, Orel, Samara and Vladimir. We also sought to quantify the extent to which efficiency could be improved by reducing hospitalization rates and re-profiling hospital beds available in the tuberculosis-control system. METHODS: We used a standard questionnaire to determine how beds were being used and who was using the beds in tuberculosis facilities in four Russian regions. Data were collected to determine how 4306 tuberculosis beds were utilized as well as on the socioeconomic and demographic indicators, clinical parameters and reasons for hospitalization for 3352 patients. FINDINGS: Of the 3352 patients surveyed about 70% were male; the average age was 40; and rates of unemployment, disability and alcohol misuse were high. About one-third of beds were occupied by smear-positive or culture-positive tuberculosis patients; 20% were occupied by tuberculosis patients who were smear-negative and/or culture-negative; 20% were occupied by patients who no longer had tuberculosis; and 20% were unoccupied. If clinical and public health admission criteria were applied then < 50% of admissions would be justified and < 50% of the current number of beds would be required. Up to 85% of admissions and beds were deemed to be necessary when social problems and poor access to outpatient care were considered along with clinical and public health admission criteria. CONCLUSION: Much of the Russian Federation's large tuberculosis hospital infrastructure is unnecessary when clinical and public health criteria are used, but the large hospital infrastructure within the tuberculosis-control system has an important social support function. Improving the efficiency of the system will require the reform of health-system norms and regulations as they relate to resource allocation and clinical care and implementation of lower-cost approaches to case management for patients with social problems. Additionally, closer attention will need to be paid to the management of staff numbers in the tuberculosis system

Health-systems efficiency in the Russian Federation: tuberculosis control.

OBJECTIVE: To conduct a comprehensive assessment of the case-mix of patients admitted to tuberculosis hospitals and the reasons for their admission in four Russian regions: Ivanovo, Orel, Samara and Vladimir. We also sought to quantify the extent to which efficiency could be improved by reducing hospitalization rates and re-profiling hospital beds available in the tuberculosis-control system. METHODS: We used a standard questionnaire to determine how beds were being used and who was using the beds in tuberculosis facilities in four Russian regions. Data were collected to determine how 4306 tuberculosis beds were utilized as well as on the socioeconomic and demographic indicators, clinical parameters and reasons for hospitalization for 3352 patients. FINDINGS: Of the 3352 patients surveyed about 70% were male; the average age was 40; and rates of unemployment, disability and alcohol misuse were high. About one-third of beds were occupied by smear-positive or culture-positive tuberculosis patients; 20% were occupied by tuberculosis patients who were smear-negative and/or culture-negative; 20% were occupied by patients who no longer had tuberculosis; and 20% were unoccupied. If clinical and public health admission criteria were applied then < 50% of admissions would be justified and < 50% of the current number of beds would be required. Up to 85% of admissions and beds were deemed to be necessary when social problems and poor access to outpatient care were considered along with clinical and public health admission criteria. CONCLUSION: Much of the Russian Federation's large tuberculosis hospital infrastructure is unnecessary when clinical and public health criteria are used, but the large hospital infrastructure within the tuberculosis-control system has an important social support function. Improving the efficiency of the system will require the reform of health-system norms and regulations as they relate to resource allocation and clinical care and implementation of lower-cost approaches to case management for patients with social problems. Additionally, closer attention will need to be paid to the management of staff numbers in the tuberculosis system

External validation of health economic decision models for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): report of the third COPD modeling meeting

To validate outcomes of presently available chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) cost-effectiveness models against results of two large COPD trials-the 3-year TOwards a Revolution in COPD Health (TORCH) trial and the 4-year Understanding Potential Long-term Impacts on Function with Tiotropium (UPLIFT) trial. Participating COPD modeling groups simulated the outcomes for the placebo-treated groups of the TORCH and UPLIFT trials using baseline characteristics of the trial populations as input. Groups then simulated treatment effectiveness by using relative reductions in annual decline in lung function and exacerbation frequency observed in the most intensively treated group compared with placebo as input for the models. Main outcomes were (change in) total/severe exacerbations and mortality. Furthermore, the absolute differences in total exacerbations and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) were used to approximate the cost per exacerbation avoided and the cost per QALY gained. Of the six participating models, three models reported higher total exacerbation rates than observed in the TORCH trial (1.13/patient-year) (models: 1.22-1.48). Four models reported higher rates than observed in the UPLIFT trial (0.85/patient-year) (models: 1.13-1.52). Two models reported higher mortality rates than in the TORCH trial (15.2%) (models: 20.0% and 30.6%) and the UPLIFT trial (16.3%) (models: 24.8% and 36.0%), whereas one model reported lower rates (9.8% and 12.1%, respectively). Simulation of treatment effectiveness showed that the absolute reduction in total exacerbations, the gain in QALYs, and the cost-effectiveness ratios did not differ from the trials, except for one model. Although most of the participating COPD cost-effectiveness models reported higher total exacerbation rates than observed in the trials, estimates of the absolute treatment effect and cost-effectiveness ratios do not seem different from the trials in most models. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2017 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Mental health reform in the Russian Federation: an integrated approach to achieve social inclusion and recovery

Objective: To facilitate mental health reform in one Russian oblast (region) using systematic approaches to policy design and implementation. Methods The authors undertook a three-year action-research programme across three pilot sites, comprising a multifaceted set of interventions combining situation appraisal to inform planning, sustained policy dialogue at federal and regional levels to catalyse change, introduction of multidisciplinary and intersectoral-working at all levels, skills-based training for professionals, and support for nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to develop new care models. Findings Training programmes developed in this process have been adopted into routine curricula with measurable changes in staff skills. Approaches to care improved through multidisciplinary and multisectoral service delivery, with an increase in NGO activities, user involvement in care planning and delivery in all pilot sites. Hospital admissions at start and end of the study fell in two pilot sites, while the rate of readmissions in all three pilot sites by 2006 was below that for the region as a whole. Lessons learned have informed the development of regional and federal mental health policies. Conclusion A multifaceted and comprehensive programme can be effective in overcoming organizational barriers to the introduction of evidence-based multisectoral interventions in one Russian region. This can help facilitate significant and sustainable changes in policy and reduce institutionalization