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Issue
04 November
2010
Focus CHSR QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER OF HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
Health Technology Assessment Health technology assessment (HTA) entails evaluation of the effective‐ness, appropriateness and cost of healthcare‐related technologies by addressing four fundamental questions: Does the technology work? If so, for whom, at what cost, and how does it compare with alternatives? It provides a basis for decisions by providing a comprehensive overview of the consequences of new technology in the health service. Since its beginnings in the United States in the early 1970s, well established HTA groups have been set up in many countries, including Canada, France and UK.
HTA has been conducted extensively around the world in formulating work plan, renewing equipments, purchasing new equipments or devising new programmes. As part of CHSR’s mandate in supporting decision‐making with sound analytics, CHSR actively assists SingHealth institutions to perform HTA. In 2008, CHSR published an online handbook of HTA. To date, the centre has also embarked on several HTA‐related projects, three of which were presented in the recent Health Technology Assessment International (HTAI) 2010 Annual Meeting (6‐9 June 2010) at Dublin, Ireland. These three projects are con‐cisely described as follows.
IMPACT OF HEATLH TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT
HTA has contributed to development of stan‐
dards, guidelines and other healthcare poli‐
cies in many countries. They include:
National Institute for Health and Clinical
Excellence’s (NICE) recommendation of
Imatinib as the first choice of treatment for
patients with gastro‐intestinal stromal
tumour that cannot be removed surgically
or has spread to other parts of the body
Canada’s Ministry of Health and Social
Services’ decision not to launch a province
wide prostate cancer screening program, as
well as the development of clinical practice
guidelines on prostate cancer screening
Establishment of a statute in Finland on
fetal screening and the implementation of a
comprehensive national training program
for both professionals and parents‐to‐be
PRESENTATIONS BY CHSR AT HTAI 2010
Effectiveness of Continuous Subcutaneous Insulin Infusion in Type 2 Diabetes: Rapid
Health Technology Assessment
Investigators: Tin AS, Gardner DSL, Goh SY, Chow WL
This study investigated the use of continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) in Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) compared to multi‐dose injection of insulin.
CSII uses a small electrical insulin pump which is planned and controlled by the user to give different specific amounts of insulin at different times of day and night.
Related literatures on the clinical and cost effectiveness of CSII use in T2DM were reviewed. Systematically framed research questions in the PICO (Population Intervention Comparator Outcome) format were used to identify relevant articles. For example: What is the population of interest? What are the types of interventions of interest? What are the comparators to intervention? What are the outcomes of interest?
A total of 14 relevant published articles were found including systematic reviews, randomized controlled trials, observational studies, reviews articles and one health technology assessment report.
The HTA suggested that CSII might be more effective over multi‐dose injection in T2DM. However, evidence of its effectiveness is still incon‐clusive. As cost evaluation studies were not available currently in this area, long‐term cost benefit analyses from both the individual and healthcare provider perspective need to be carried out.
Rapid-HTA: Robot-Assisted Gait Therapy
Investigators: Tong SC, Ng YS, Lim P, Bok CW, Chow WL
Robot Assisted Gait Therapy (RAGT) involves the use of a robot or‐thotic device to help the patient retrain motor coordination by per‐forming well‐focused and carefully directed repetitive practice.
A Rapid HTA was performed to examine the literature on effective‐ness of RAGT with stroke patients as compared to physiotherapy (PT) using the Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcomes (PICO) framework.
10 publications were reviewed, including 1 Systematic Review, 4 Randomised Clinical Trials, 2 Case‐Control studies, 2 Case Series and 1 Review.
The evidence that either RAGT with PT is more effective than conventional PT is mixed. However, RAGT with PT is effective for patients less than 3 months post stroke and in patients who had a low Functional Ambulatory Category Score. In addition, when RAGT and PT are used together, the combined therapies are more effec‐tive than PT alone.
However, the evidence does not indicate that RAGT alone as a treat‐ment option is superior to PT.
More studies will have to be done to assess effectiveness and cost‐effectiveness of RAGT in stroke rehabilitation.
Upcoming Seminars In January 2011
CHSR Focus Issue 04 November 2010
1. Basic Principles of Economic Evaluation of Healthcare Programs 2. Systematic Review & Meta‐Analysis For more details, please email [email protected]
PRESENTATIONS BY CHSR AT HTAI 2010 Rapid HTA: Can Magnetic Resonance Imaging
be Used to Screen Women at High Risk for Breast Cancer?
Investigators: Wang VW, Tan SM, Chow WL
Breast cancer is the commonest malignancy among Singapore women.
Women at high risk of familial breast cancer have an earlier disease onset. For them it is difficult to detect lesions with X‐ray mammography (XRM) due to their higher breast density. The aggressive tumor growth also requires a more sensitive screening regimen.
This study aimed to evaluate the evidence for and against the use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) as an adjunct to XRM for the screening of women at high risk of familial breast cancer.
Current evidence strongly supports the addition of MRI to XRM, but there is no RCT to confirm the sensitivity and specificity. MRI+XRM can be more cost‐effective than XRM alone for breast cancer screening in younger women at high risk of familiar breast cancer
The results are of significant importance to policy makers in Singapore and other Asia‐Pacific countries in planning/improving the national screening program for breast cancer. The findings also help clinicians make informed recommendations to their patients based on the appropriateness of screen‐ing using MRI.
coming soon >>>
In The Next Issue Look out for more information on
qualitative research and the related
research projects that CHSR is currently
undertaking or has completed
The Health Service Development Programme (HSDP) was established in 2000 by Ministry of Health (MOH) with the objective of developing new health services and medical capabilities through funding of projects on a pilot basis
Every HSDP funding proposal is required to include a HTA report of the technology or program involved
CHSR supports annual review and evaluation of all HSDP applications by SingHealth institutions
Since 2008, CHSR has evaluated a total of 68 HSDP applications
Did You Know?
QUICK FACTS ON HTA APPLICATION IN
SINGAPORE’S PUBLIC HEALTHCARE
Formal HTA activities only began in the early
1990s
The first formal unit with HTA functions was
established within Ministry of Health (MOH) in
September 1995
HTA has been deployed to support MOH’s deci‐
sion‐making processes in formulation of Standard
Drug List, licensing of medical clinics, evaluation
of Health Service Development Programmes,
healthcare subsidies, and policy development
The HTA capability of two public sector healthcare
clusters (SingHealth & National Healthcare Group)
resides in their respective health services
research units
CHSR presenters at HTAi 2010