Scaling up cost-effective physical activity interventions in a culturally diverse setting

Before this PhD project started, evidence showed that physical inactivity causes a substantial health and economic burden globally. For Switzerland, there was research available investigating the burden of physical inactivity. However, this research estimated the burden for the entire country without differentiating between sub regions although the prevalence of physical inactivity varies significantly between the French-, German- and Italian-speaking regions. Therefore, this thesis had three aims: 1. Estimating the health and economic burden of physical inactivity in Switzerland and for the French-, German- and Italian-speaking language regions separately 2. Systematically reviewing trial-based economic evaluations of interventions to reduce physical inactivity 3. Developing a health economic model that investigates the cost-effectiveness of physical activity interventions in Switzerland and its three language regions The thesis showed that the burden of physical inactivity in Switzerland is substantial and that the French- and Italian-speaking regions are over-proportionally affected. These two regions distinguish themselves from the German-speaking region by having a higher prevalence of physical inactivity, higher per capita health care spending, and higher disease prevalence. Due to the substantial burden of physical inactivity, interventions aiming to increase physical activity should be considered. In the systematic review we conducted, we found evidence from randomized controlled trials indicating the cost-effectiveness of some physical activity interventions for primary prevention in adults. These interventions were then further evaluated in a cost-effectiveness model built for the Swiss setting. This model showed that Swiss policy makers have cost-effective options of physical activity promotion. We recommend that individualized advice and general practitioner referral be further evaluated as interventions and that decision-making considers the specifics of the Swiss language regions. Furthermore, we judge the cost-effectiveness model to be not only relevant for Switzerland but also for other multicultural countries. Based on similar data availability, our model has the potential to be applied beyond Switzerland, primarily to high-income countries with a comparable background, as a tool to guide societal efforts in primary prevention of physical-inactivity-related diseases

Waiting as an act of resistance: six films by Nicolas Wadimoff

A DAFilms online programme on the work of Geneva-born filmmaker Nicolas Wadimoff opens new perspectives on Palestine, Swiss leftism, and the radicalism of patience. Film critic Alan Mattli draws a roadmap to the retrospective

Black Spider: horror made in Switzerland

Jeremias Gotthelf’s 1842 novella The Black Spider is a classic of Swiss literature – and a rare example of horror made in Switzerland. Cinema and literary critic Alan Mattli questions whether a new cinematic adaptation can help it break through internationally

Inpatient hospital costs of febrile neutropenia as a consequence of chemotherapy for breast cancer and non-Hodgkin lymphoma in Switzerland

Febrile neutropenia (FN) can be a serious complication of chemotherapy (CHT), increasing mortality risk and healthcare costs. Incidence and inpatient hospital costs of FN in Switzerland are currently not reported. The study aimed to: 1. Estimate the number of CHT induced FN-related hospitalizations. 2. Assess inpatient hospital costs per FN event in Switzerland

Where does the money for rising dividend payments come from? : a market data analysis of listed Swiss corporations and their rising dividend payments since the turn of the millennium

Most companies at one point in their life will have to face decisions regarding their payout strategy. Thus, dividends are a widely discussed instrument of shareholder compensation in the business world. It is often observed that firms are reluctant to reduce dividend payments, even if this forces them to raise debt, reduce cash or forgo investing activities. Market data shows that the amount of total regular dividends paid to shareholders of listed Swiss firms has increased almost every year since 2003, while at the same time the income only had a significant increase before the financial crisis in 2008, but then stagnated until 2017. Hence, the question arises how dividends can continue to grow if the operational performance shows signs of weakness. Or put differently, how are growing amounts of dividends being financed. Therefore, this thesis set out to answer the question from where the cash for the continuously rising dividend payments comes from. This study tried to detect where the money for the continuously rising dividend payments derives from based on a quantitative analysis of Swiss stock market data retrieved from Bloomberg. The relevant data consisted of figures from the balance sheet, the income and cash flow statements of 99 Swiss corporations listed between the year 2000 and 2017. To support the findings, scientific literature was consulted. The results show that the sample of companies examined mainly lowers investing activities from 2010 to 2017 in order to free up cash for dividend payments. The data does not imply systematic increases or decreases in other positions that could have led to cash flows available for disbursements. However, share repurchases are a flexible Instrument occasionally used by managers to steer cash flows. So, after the financial crisis, Swiss corporations did make a little less repurchases than before the crisis, which again led to more cash available for regular dividend payments

Microstructure and compressive behavior of Al-Y2O3 nanocomposites prepared by microwave-assisted mechanical alloying

In this study, Al–Y2O3 nanocomposites were synthesized via mechanical alloying and microwave-assisted sintering. The effect of different levels of yttrium oxide on the microstructural and mechanical properties of the Al–Y2O3 nanocomposites were investigated. The density of the Al–Y2O3 nanocomposites increased with increasing Y2O3 volume fraction in the aluminum matrix, while the porosity decreased. Scanning electron microscopy analysis of the nanocomposites showed the homogeneous distribution of the Y2O3 nanoparticles in the aluminum matrix. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed the presence of yttria particles in the Al matrix. The mechanical properties of the Al–Y2O3 nanocomposites increased as the addition of yttria reached to 1.5 vol. % and thereafter decreased. The microhardness first increased from 38 Hv to 81 Hv, and then decreased to 74 ± 4 Hv for 1.5 vol. % yttria. The Al–1.5 vol. % Y2O3 nanocomposite exhibited the best ultimate compressive strength and yielded a strength of 359 ± 7 and 111 ± 5 MPa, respectively. The Al–Y2O3 nanocomposites showed higher hardness, yield strength, and compressive strength than the microwave-assisted mechanically alloyed pure Al.This publication was made possible by NPRP Grant 7-159-2-076 from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of the Qatar Foundation).Scopu

Digitale Lebensstil-Intervention im Alter

Lebensstil-Interventionen sollen helfen, ungesunde Gewohnheiten zu durchbrechen. Um tatsächlich Verhaltensänderung zu bewirken, sind je nach Zielgruppe jedoch spezifische Ansätze gefragt. In einem neuen Projekt erforschen wir deshalb, wie wir ältere Menschen durch eine digitale Applikation erreichen können

Economic evaluation of oral versus parenteral iron therapy for iron deficiency without anemia

The Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (SFOPH) commissioned a Health Technology Assessment (HTA) regarding iron therapy in symptomatic patients with iron deficiency without anemia (iron deficiency no anemia, IDNA) to the Basel Institute for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics (CEB) and the Winterthur Institute of Health Economics (WIG). The scope, which describes the background of the HTA and elucidates the general approach, has been published on the SFOPH homepage. This HTA followed a step-wise approach. The aim of the first step was to assess the clinical effectiveness of iron therapy in symptomatic patients with IDNA, and to identify symptomatic populations that benefit from the therapy. In this first step, the clinical effectiveness of iron therapy was assessed in comparison to any other non-iron treatment or placebo, irrespective of the route of iron administration. This step was conducted by CEB, and the results are summarized in chapter 2 of this document. In the second step, which will be conducted by WIG, the economic evaluation shall compare parenteral versus oral iron therapy for those populations, for which a significant treatment effect of iron therapy (parenteral or oral) versus control could be identified during the first step. Based on the effectiveness results, the scope of the economic evaluation is outlined in chapter 4. Section 4.1 defines the objective of the economic evaluation. Section 4.2 defines the population, the intervention, the comparator, and the outcome (PICO) which will be evaluated. A screening of health economic literature and publicly available HTAs for economic studies comparing parenteral with oral iron therapy is presented in section 4.3, and section 4.4 concludes with the outline of the research methodology of the economic evaluation

Widening versus Deepening of International Unions

The article provides a theoretical framework of international unions in the form of two two-stage games with discounting and one simultaneous game aimed at generating insights into the conflict between widening and deepening in the integration process. Each country (player) has a preference for a set of regulations (policies). Regulatory differences between countries cause utility loss. Harmonization reduces the utility loss but entails a cost since it requires union members to implement harmonized rules that may deviate from the country’s preferred regulation. Insiders harmonize a subset of the regulations. Widening signifies that outsiders join the union by accepting the union’s harmonized set of regulations - which is beneficial for the insiders. Deepening means that insiders proceed to harmonize a larger subset of regulations. We inquire whether widening should precede deepening, or vice versa, or whether it is preferable to interchange widening and deepening in some incrementally prescribed manner. The incentive to pursue further regulatory harmonization within a union increases with the regulatory diversity among insiders certeris paribus, provided the effect of outsiders on the utility of insiders is small. Insiders are more reluctant to opt for widening before deepening the more the mean regulatory preference of insiders deviates from the mean regulatory preference of outsiders in areas likely to become harmonized in the future. In contrast, members are more inclined to choose widening before deepening the more the mean regulatory preference of insiders deviates from the mean preference of outsiders in already harmonized areas

Biosimilars helfen sparen

Sie sind gleichwertig und kostengünstiger. Dennoch werden Biosimilars – die Nachahmerprodukte von Biologika – in der Schweiz bisher selten verordnet. Was sind die Gründe dafür? Ein im Auftrag des BAG durchgeführtes Health Technology Assessment (HTA) liefert Antworten anhand des Biologikums Infliximab und dessen Biosimilars bei der Behandlung von rheumatoider Arthritis