Every Monday our authors provide a round-up of some of the most recently published peer reviewed articles from the field. We don’t cover everything, or even what’s most important – just a few papers that have interested the author. Visit our Resources page for links to more journals or follow the HealthEconBot. If you’d like to write one of our weekly journal round-ups, get in touch.
Vaccine hesitancy and (fake) news: quasi‐experimental evidence from Italy. Health Economics [PubMed] [RePEc] Published 20th August 2019
Has fake news led to fewer children being vaccinated? At least in Italy, the answer seems to be yes.
It’s shocking to read that the WHO has included the reluctance or refusal to vaccinate as one of the 10 threats to global health today. And many of us are asking: why has this happened and what can we do to address it? Vincenzo Carrieri, Leonardo Madio and Francesco Principe help answer this first question. They looked at how fake news affects the take-up of vaccines, assuming that exposure to fake news is proxied by access to broadband and within a difference-in-differences framework. They found that a 10% increase in broadband coverage is associated with a 1.2-1.6% reduction in vaccination rates.
The differences-in-differences method hinges on a court ruling in 2012 that accepted that the MMR vaccine causes autism. Following the ruling, fake news about vaccines spread across the internet. In parallel, broadband coverage increased over time due to a government programme, but it varied by region, depending on the existing infrastructure and geographical conditions. Broadband coverage, by itself, cannot lead to lower vaccination rates. So it makes sense to assume that broadband coverage leads to greater exposure to fake news about vaccines, which in turn leads to lower vaccination rates.
On the other hand, it may be that greater broadband coverage and lower vaccination rates are both caused by something else. The authors wrote a good introduction to justify the model assumptions and show a few robustness checks. Had they had more space, I would have like to read a bit more about the uncertainties around the model assumptions. This is a fantastic paper and good food for thought on the consequences of fake news. Great read!
The cost-effectiveness of one-time birth cohort screening for hepatitis C as part of the National Health Service Health Check programme in England. Value in Health Published 19th August 2019
Jack Williams and colleagues looked at the cost-effectiveness of one-time birth cohort screening for hepatitis C. As hepatitis C is usually asymptomatic before reaching its more advanced stages, people may not be aware that they are infected. Therefore, they may not get tested and treated, even though treatment is effective and cost-effective.
At the level of the individual eligible for testing, the ICERs were between £8k-£31k/QALY, with lower ICERs for younger birth cohorts. The ICERs also depended on the transition probabilities for the progression of the disease, with lower ICERs if progression is faster. Extensive sensitivity and value of information analyses indicate that the key cost-effectiveness drivers are the transition probabilities, probabilities of referral and of treatment post-referral, and the quality of life benefits of being cured.
This is a great example of a good quality applied cost-effectiveness analysis. The model is well justified, the results are thoroughly tested, and the discussion is meticulous. Well done!
NICE, in confidence: an assessment of redaction to obscure confidential information in Single Technology Appraisals by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. PharmacoEconomics [PubMed] Published 27th June 2019
NICE walks a fine line between making decisions transparent and protecting confidential information. Confidential information includes commercially sensitive information (e.g. discounts to the price paid by the NHS) and academic-in-confidence information, such as unpublished results of clinical trials. The problem is that the redacted information may preclude readers from understanding NICE decisions.
Ash Bullement and colleagues reviewed NICE appraisals of technologies with an approved price discount. Their goal was to understand the extent of redactions and their consequences on the transparency of NICE decisions. Of the 171 NICE appraisals, 118 had an approved commercial arrangement and 110 had a simple price discount. The type of redacted information varied. Some did not present the ICER, others presented ICERs but not the components of the ICERs, and others did not even present the estimates of life expectancy from the model. Remarkably, the confidential discount could be back-calculated in seven NICE appraisals! The authors also looked at the academic-in-confidence redactions. They found that 68 out of 86 appraisals published before 2018 still had academic-in-confidence information redacted. This made me wonder if NICE has a process to review these redactions and disclose them once the information is in the public domain.
As Ash and colleagues rightly conclude, this review shows that there does not seem to be a consistent process for redaction and disclosure. This is a compelling paper on the practicalities of the NICE process, and with useful reflections for HTA agencies around the world. The message for NICE is that it may be time to review the process to handle sensitive information.
Credits
