There are now a large number of instruments available for assessing health-related quality of life, many of which are used within economic evaluations. When considering the use of quality-of-life instruments, meaningful questions need to be asked to determine whether an instrument has been used...

The first edition of the Guidelines for Economic Evaluation of Pharmaceuticals: Canada was published in November 1994. At that time, the Canadian Coordinating Office for Health Technology Assessment (CCOHTA) was assigned the task of maintaining and regularly updating the Canadian Guidelines....

Schizophrenia is a chronic disease that typically manifests during adolescence and early adulthood. Treatment of this disease consumes a significant proportion of the healthcare budget (billions of dollars in the US). Primary management options for schizophrenia include both pharmacologic and...

The critical role of the patient and family caregivers in disease management is often overlooked or undervalued. Self-management of symptoms, lifestyle, behaviour and adherence to provider recommendations in general often make the difference between success and failure of disease management,...

HIV disease is a serious global health problem and a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. It has recently been estimated that more than 30 million adults and 1.1 million children are infected with HIV; it is expected that 40 million people will have acquired the virus by the year...

The emphasis on healthcare in the US is shifting to the ambulatory environment. To date, few studies have evaluated the effects that community pharmacists have on patient care. In an attempt to address this issue, 4 academicians from a college of pharmacy developed a research network of...

In a double-blind study in a primary-care setting in France, outpatients fulfilling DSM IV criteria for a major depressive episode were randomised to receive sertraline (50 to 150 mg/day; n = 122) or fluoxetine (20 to 60 mg/day; n = 120). Assessments, including clinical evaluation...

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is a highly cost-effective treatment for symptoms of the menopause such as hot flushes (flashes). A number of economic evaluations have indicated that it may also be a cost-effective therapy for the prevention of cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis. However,...

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine utility scores for various chronic conditions. Design and setting: This study is a descriptive analysis. Health Utilities Index (HUI) scores for 20 chronic conditions were examined from the National Population Health Survey (NPHS) from 1994...

Medically intractable epilepsy (MIE) is a chronic disabling condition that primarily affects the young. Inadequately treated, it can produce life-long disability associated with high rates of social isolation, unemployment, depression, suicide and premature mortality. Recent advances in...