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.
A need for change! A coding framework for improving transparency in decision modeling. PharmacoEconomics [PubMed] Published 24th September 2019
We’ve featured a few papers in recent round-ups that (I assume) will be included in an upcoming themed issue of PharmacoEconomics on transparency in modelling. It’s shaping up to be a good one. The value of transparency in decision modelling has been recognised, but simply making the stuff visible is not enough – it needs to make sense. The purpose of this paper is to help make that achievable.
The authors highlight that the writing of analyses, including coding, involves personal style and preferences. To aid transparency, we need a systematic framework of conventions that make the inner workings of a model understandable to any (expert) user. The paper describes a framework developed by the Decision Analysis in R for Technologies in Health (DARTH) group. The DARTH framework builds on a set of core model components, generalisable to all cost-effectiveness analyses and model structures. There are five components – i) model inputs, ii) model implementation, iii) model calibration, iv) model validation, and v) analysis – and the paper describes the role of each. Importantly, the analysis component can be divided into several parts relating to, for example, sensitivity analyses and value of information analyses.
Based on this framework, the authors provide recommendations for organising and naming files and on the types of functions and data structures required. The recommendations build on conventions established in other fields and in the use of R generally. The authors recommend the implementation of functions in R, and relate general recommendations to the context of decision modelling. We’re also introduced to unit testing, which will be unfamiliar to most Excel modellers but which can be relatively easily implemented in R. The role of various tools are introduced, including R Studio, R Markdown, Shiny, and GitHub.
The real value of this work lies in the linked R packages and other online material, which you can use to test out the framework and consider its application to whatever modelling problem you might have. The authors provide an example using a basic Sick-Sicker model, which you can have a play with using the DARTH packages. In combination with the online resources, this is a valuable paper that you should have to hand if you’re developing a model in R.
Accounts from developers of generic health state utility instruments explain why they produce different QALYs: a qualitative study. Social Science & Medicine [PubMed] Published 19th September 2019
It’s well known that different preference-based measures of health will generate different health state utility values for the same person. Yet, they continue to be used almost interchangeably. For this study, the authors spoke to people involved in the development of six popular measures: QWB, 15D, HUI, EQ-5D, SF-6D, and AQoL. Their goal was to understand the bases for the development of the measures and to explain why the different measures should give different results.
At least one original developer for each instrument was recruited, along with people involved at later stages of development. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 people, with questions on the background, aims, and criteria for the development of the measure, and on the descriptive system, preference weights, performance, and future development of the instrument.
Five broad topics were identified as being associated with differences in the measures: i) knowledge sources used for conceptualisation, ii) development purposes, iii) interpretations of what makes a ‘good’ instrument, iv) choice of valuation techniques, and v) the context for the development process. The online appendices provide some useful tables that summarise the differences between the measures. The authors distinguish between measures based on ‘objective’ definitions (QWB) and items that people found important (15D). Some prioritised sensitivity (AQoL, 15D), others prioritised validity (HUI, QWB), and several focused on pragmatism (SF-6D, HUI, 15D, EQ-5D). Some instruments had modest goals and opportunistic processes (EQ-5D, SF-6D, HUI), while others had grand goals and purposeful processes (QWB, 15D, AQoL). The use of some measures (EQ-5D, HUI) extended far beyond what the original developers had anticipated. In short, different measures were developed with quite different concepts and purposes in mind, so it’s no surprise that they give different results.
This paper provides some interesting accounts and views on the process of instrument development. It might prove most useful in understanding different measures’ blind spots, which can inform the selection of measures in research, as well as future development priorities.
The emerging social science literature on health technology assessment: a narrative review. Value in Health Published 16th September 2019
Health economics provides a good example of multidisciplinarity, with economists, statisticians, medics, epidemiologists, and plenty of others working together to inform health technology assessment. But I still don’t understand what sociologists are talking about half of the time. Yet, it seems that sociologists and political scientists are busy working on the big questions in HTA, as demonstrated by this paper’s 120 references. So, what are they up to?
This article reports on a narrative review, based on 41 empirical studies. Three broad research themes are identified: i) what drove the establishment and design of HTA bodies? ii) what has been the influence of HTA? and iii) what have been the social and political influences on HTA decisions? Some have argued that HTA is inevitable, while others have argued that there are alternative arrangements. Either way, no two systems are the same and it is not easy to explain differences. It’s important to understand HTA in the context of other social tendencies and trends, and that HTA influences and is influenced by these. The authors provide a substantial discussion on the role of stakeholders in HTA and the potential for some to attempt to game the system. Uncertainty abounds in HTA and this necessarily requires negotiation and acts as a limit on the extent to which HTA can rely on objectivity and rationality.
Something lacking is a critical history of HTA as a discipline and the question of what HTA is actually good for. There’s also not a lot of work out there on culture and values, which contrasts with medical sociology. The authors suggest that sociologists and political scientists could be more closely involved in HTA research projects. I suspect that such a move would be more challenging for the economists than for the sociologists.
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