Background The costs of healthcare are on the rise. With an ageing population, growing demand for health services and expensive new technologies, Australia’s annual health care bill has more than doubled in the last ten years, and is projected to increase a further 127% by 2033. As third-party...

Background: Variation exists in quality of life (i.e., utility) estimates depending on the utility elicitation method utilized. Using the EQ-5D, VAS, and HUI-III, the aim of this thesis was to determine whether these measures adequately capture HRQOL in a CRC population and assess the...

Background: Trials in Africa indicate that medical adult male circumcision (MAMC) reduces the risk of HIV by 60%. MAMC may avert 2 to 8 million HIV infections over 20 years in sub-Saharan Africa and cost less than treating those who would have been infected. This paper estimates the financial...

Background. The introduction of a new generation of atypical antipsychotic agents has raised difficult economic and ethical questions, particularly in lower-income countries. The reported tolerability and efficacy advantages of the atypical antipsychotics over their conventional predecessors...

The extent to which economic evaluations of public health programs in Ontario are conducted and used by decision makers is currently very limited. This thesis supports public health decision-making through applied and methodological work. The applied work demonstrates different methods to...

Telemedicine offers an alternative referral strategy for fetal cardiology but is currently only used for ?high-risk? pregnancies. A case-study of a cost-consequences analysis comparing telemedicine to direct referral to a perinatal cardiologist is initially presented, which highlights that for...

The focus of this thesis is on the application of decision models to the economic evaluation of health care technologies. The primary objective addresses the correct choice of modelling technique, as the attributes of the chosen technique could have a significant impact on the process, as well...

This paper discusses a methodology used for a qualitative cost-benefit evaluation of a complex, emergent program. Complex, emergent programs, where implementation varies considerably over time and across sites to respond to local needs and opportunities, present challenges to conventional...

Catheter-related bloodstream infections are a serious problem. Many interventions reduce risk, and some have been evaluated in cost-effectiveness studies. We review the usefulness and quality of these economic studies. Evidence is incomplete, and data required to inform a coherent policy are...

The burden of rising health care expenditures has created a demand for information regarding the clinical and economic outcomes associated with complementary and alternative medicines. Meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials have found Hypericum perforatum preparations to be superior to...