Background: The majority of individuals with allergic rhinitis in the US take first-generation antihistamines (FGAs). Although FGAs have been proven effective in alleviating allergic rhinitis symptoms, they have been associated with an increased risk of motor vehicle, aviation and occupational...

Uncertainty in the decision-making process for reimbursement of health technologies could be reduced if additional information were available. Although methods to evaluate the monetary value of the uncertainty have been previously described, an economic evaluation of alternative methods to...

A great advantage of the stated preference discrete choice experiment (SPDCE) approach to economic evaluation methodology is its immense flexibility within applied cost-benefit analyses (CBAs). However, while the use of SPDCEs in healthcare has increased markedly in recent years there has been a...

Background: Docetaxel is an equally active alternative to paclitaxel in advanced ovarian cancer but has a different adverse effect profile. Whilst paclitaxel is associated with less haematological toxicity, such as febrile neutropenia and anaemia, docetaxel causes less sensory and motor...

Background: Direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) is legal in the US and New Zealand, but illegal in the rest of the world. Little or no research exists on the social welfare implications of DTCA. Aim: To quantify the total costs and benefits associated with both appropriate and inappropriate...

In health economics, contingent valuation is a method that elicits an individual Contingent valuation questions can be targeted to any of the following groups: the general population, to value health insurance premiums for programmes; users of a health programme, to value the associated...

Aim: To determine the economic impact (cost-benefit analysis) of childhood varicella vaccination, with the Oka/Merck varicella zoster virus vaccine live (Varivax(R)) in Italy. Methods: This analysis is based on an epidemiological model of varicella zoster virus (VZV) dynamics adapted to the...

Pharmaceutical expenditure represents a large percentage of total healthcare expenditure, and has thus received much attention within the economic evaluation literature. However, although the number of contingent valuation (CV) studies measuring willingness to pay (WTP) in healthcare has...