04.02.2015 Views

Dictionary of Evidence-based Medicine.pdf

Dictionary of Evidence-based Medicine.pdf

Dictionary of Evidence-based Medicine.pdf

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

<strong>Dictionary</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Evidence</strong>-<strong>based</strong> <strong>Medicine</strong> 47<br />

<strong>of</strong> the second questionnaire and simultaneous feedback <strong>of</strong> the information<br />

to the respondents; (iv) analysis <strong>of</strong> the results <strong>of</strong> the second questionnaire<br />

and, if necessary, further iteration with more questionnaires until consensus<br />

is achieved. Feedback <strong>of</strong> the information to the respondents at each<br />

stage; (v) presentation <strong>of</strong> the consensus results; (vi) make forecast.<br />

Deterministic models (see Stochastic model)<br />

Discounting<br />

In economic analyses, the fact that costs that are incurred sooner are more<br />

keenly felt than those that are incurred later (a phenomenon referred to as<br />

'positive rate <strong>of</strong> time preference') is taken into account by discounting costs<br />

as they accrue over time. Costs <strong>of</strong> alternative therapies, with different time<br />

pr<strong>of</strong>iles, can therefore be expressed uniformly in terms <strong>of</strong> present values.<br />

The formula used for discounting is as follows:<br />

where P = present value, r = discount rate and a value between 3% and 5%<br />

is <strong>of</strong>ten recommended, C 3 ,C 2 ,C 3 ,...,C n are the costs in year 1, 2, 3,...,n.<br />

Disease management<br />

Disease management is a systematic population-<strong>based</strong> approach to identifying<br />

those at risk, intervening using the best systematically reviewed<br />

evidence and measuring patient outcomes once an intervention is in<br />

effect. Important operational aspects include (i) the development <strong>of</strong> clear<br />

clinical guidelines; (ii) agreement on the part <strong>of</strong> providers and patients to<br />

participate; (iii) establishment <strong>of</strong> an efficient and effective information<br />

infrastructure; (iv) well-designed and tested interventions; (v) a logical<br />

plan for the collection <strong>of</strong> outcomes (Epstein RS, McGlynn MG (1997)<br />

Disease management. What is it Disease Management and Health Outcomes.<br />

1: 3-10).<br />

Domain<br />

In quality <strong>of</strong> life assessments, a domain is a range <strong>of</strong> observables used to<br />

measure a particular construct. For example, one can refer to a physical<br />

function domain which includes a range <strong>of</strong> items aimed at defining that

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!