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Each year, the American Heart Association (AHA), in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and other government agencies, brings together in a single document the most up-to-date statistics related to heart disease, stroke, and the cardiovascular risk factors listed in the AHA’s My Life Check - Life’s Simple 7 (Figure1), which include core health behaviors (smoking, physical activity, diet, and weight) and health factors (cholesterol, blood pressure [BP], and glucose control) that contribute to cardiovascular health. The Statistical Update represents …

Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics-2018 Update: A Report From the American Heart Association.

Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin as a treatment of COVID-19: results of an open-label non-randomized clinical trial.

Pedagosko i psiholosko testiranje i procjenjivanje spadaju među najvažnije doprinose znanosti o ponasanju nasem drustvu i pružaju temeljna i znacajna poboljsanja u odnosu na ranije postupke. Iako se ne može ustvrditi da su svi testovi dovoljno usavrseni niti da su sva testiranja razborita i korisna, postoji velika kolicina informacija koje ukazuju na ucinkovitost kvalitetnih instrumenata u onim situacijama u kojima je njihovo koristenje potkrijepljeno validacijskim podacima. Pravilna upotreba testova može dovesti do boljih odluka o pojedincima i programima nego sto bi to bio slucaj bez njihovog koristenja, a također i ukazati na put za siri i pravedniji pristup obrazovanju i zaposljavanju. Međutim, losa upotreba testova može dovesti do zamjetne stete nanesene ispitanicima i drugim sudionicima u procesu donosenja odluka na temelju testovnih podataka. Cilj Standarda je promoviranje kvalitetne i eticne upotrebe testova te uspostavljanje osnovice za ocjenu kvalitete postupaka testiranja. Svrha objavljivanja Standarda je uspostavljanje kriterija za evaluaciju testova, provedbe testiranja i posljedica upotrebe testova. Iako bi evaluacija prikladnosti testa ili njegove primjene trebala ovisiti prvenstveno o strucnim misljenjima, Standardi pružaju okvir koji osigurava obuhvacanje svih relevantnih pitanja. Bilo bi poželjno da svi autori, sponzori, nakladnici i korisnici profesionalnih testova usvoje Standarde te da poticu druge da ih također prihvate.

Standards for educational and psychological testing

Background Currently, no single U.S. surveillance system can provide estimates of the burden of all types of health care–associated infections across acute care patient populations. We conducted a prevalence survey in 10 geographically diverse states to determine the prevalence of health care–associated infections in acute care hospitals and generate updated estimates of the national burden of such infections. Methods We defined health care–associated infections with the use of National Healthcare Safety Network criteria. One-day surveys of randomly selected inpatients were performed in participating hospitals. Hospital personnel collected demographic and limited clinical data. Trained data collectors reviewed medical records retrospectively to identify health care–associated infections active at the time of the survey. Survey data and 2010 Nationwide Inpatient Sample data, stratified according to patient age and length of hospital stay, were used to estimate the total numbers of health care–associated in...

/pdf/multistate-point-prevalence-survey-of-health-care-associated-mcdsucwkg4.pdf

Multistate point-prevalence survey of health care-associated infections.

Substantial progress has been made in the awareness, treatment, and prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in women since the first women-specific clinical recommendations for the prevention of CVD were published by the American Heart Association (AHA) in 1999.1 The myth that heart disease is a “man’s disease” has been debunked; the rate of public awareness of CVD as the leading cause of death among US women has increased from 30% in 1997 to 54% in 2009.2 The age-adjusted death rate resulting from coronary heart disease (CHD) in females, which accounts for about half of all CVD deaths in women, was 95.7 per 100 000 females in 2007, a third of what it was in 1980.3,4 Approximately 50% of this decline in CHD deaths has been attributed to reducing major risk factors and the other half to treatment of CHD including secondary preventive therapies.4 Major randomized controlled clinical trials such as the Women’s Health Initiative have changed the practice of CVD prevention in women over the past decade.5 The investment in combating this major public health issue for women has been significant, as have the scientific and medical achievements.

https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1161/CIR.0b013e31820faaf8

Effectiveness-based guidelines for the prevention of cardiovascular disease in women-2011 update: A Guideline from the American Heart Association

Hospitals invest considerable resources organizing operating suites and having surgeons and theatre staff available on an agreed schedule. A common impediment to efficiency is perioperative delay,including delays getting to the operating room or during the operation. Perioperative delays entail significant costs for hospitals,wasting staff time and operating theatre resources. They may also affect patient outcomes; prolonged surgery is a predictor for unanticipated admission following elective ambulatory surgery...

/pdf/opportunity-cost-of-unavailable-surgical-instruments-in-3faop8hlbx.pdf

Opportunity cost of unavailable surgical instruments in Australian hospitals.

A policy case study of blood in Australia

Three studies report estimates of the cost and effectiveness of alternate strategies for screening
the average-risk Australian population for colorectal cancer. The options considered are faecal
occult blood testing, double contrast barium enema, sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy. At present,
there is no consensus over which screening method is optimal by the economic criterion. Also, the
existing studies report a mixture of average and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios derived from
data collected between 1994 and 2002. We suggest average cost-effectiveness ratios are not useful
for decision-making and illustrate how they differ from the preferred incremental cost-effectiveness
ratio. We then update the cost data reported in the three studies to 2002 prices and calculate
incremental cost-effectiveness ratios where not previously available. Our re-analysis of one study
contradicts the conclusions drawn by the authors, who had only calculated average costeffectiveness
ratios. In particular, we find their recommendation of population screening with
colonoscopy would cause, annually, between 33 and 1,322 years of life to be lost and between
$M17 and $M87 to be wasted. Based on updated cost data and the incremental analysis, our
findings indicate that population screening using biennial faecal occult blood testing ($39,459 per
life-year gained), annual faecal occult blood testing ($30,556 per life-year gained) and colonoscopy
($26,587 per life-year gained) are cost-effective. Hence, the decision over which method of
screening is optimal remains ambiguous across the three studies. We recommend policy-makers
choose the study they believe produces the most accurate estimates of cost and health effect,
identify their willingness to pay for health benefits and consider other issues relevant to the
decision.

Re-interpreting the data on the cost and effectiveness of population screening for colorectal cancer in Australia

The Economic Impact of Improved Hand Hygiene

Australia’s health system is world-class, however wound management in Australia is extremely complex and diverse, and the prevention and treatment of venous leg ulcers (VLUs), is an area where Australia particularly lags behind. Evidence-based Australian guidelines recommend compression therapy as the primary treatment for VLUs, however despite significant evidence of the health and economic benefits of compression therapy, it is not widely used in practice. Compression therapy is not subsidised through the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) or Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) which list medicines subsidised by the Australian Government. Therefore patients must also pay high out-of-pocket costs for VLU treatments, including for products such as compression bandages. A large health economics collaboration culminated in a strong body of evidence showing that adequate reimbursement for guideline-based services and products would not only result in cost savings for patients and the health system but also improve health outcomes and quality of life for patients with VLUs in Australia. There is an urgent need to change current practice in Australia to allow the costs of compression therapy to be adequately reimbursed to both patients and health care providers by listing compression therapy in PBS for all affected individuals or creating wound-specific MBS items.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/iwj.13152

Nicholas Graves

Papers

Opportunity cost of unavailable surgical instruments in Australian hospitals.

A policy case study of blood in Australia

Re-interpreting the data on the cost and effectiveness of population screening for colorectal cancer in Australia

The Economic Impact of Improved Hand Hygiene

Reimbursement for the cost of compression therapy for the management of venous leg ulcers in Australia