HOW TO VALUE FUTURE OUTCOMES OF PREVENTIVE INTERVENTIONS

Groningen, The Netherlands–Highly effective preventive interventions have become available providing relevant and cost-effective reductions in burden of diseases. The present value of costs and outcomes of especially preventive interventions with long-term outcomes are strongly affected by discounting.

The study, “On Discounting Of Health Gains From Human Papilloma Virus Vaccination: Investigating The Effects Of Different Approaches,” authored by T. Westra and co-authored by M. Parouty, W. Brouwer, PhD. Beutels, R. Rogoza, M. Rozenbaum, T. Daemen, J. Wilschut C. Boersma and M. Postma, investigated how different discounting approaches affect the net present value of health outcomes of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination.

They show that alternative discounting approaches value the long-term health outcomes of HPV-vaccination very differently compared to the standard discounting approach.

Westra and colleagues, therefore, recommend “to carefully identify appropriate discount methods and rates, and to investigate the sensitivity of results to application of alternative discounting approaches” next to alternative numerical discount rates.

This will be discussed in a future issue of Value in Health, the official journal of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and outcomes Research. 

Value in Health (ISSN 1098-3015) publishes papers, concepts, and ideas that advance the field of pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research as well as policy papers to help health care leaders make evidence-based decisions. The journal is published bi-monthly and has over 8,000 subscribers (clinicians, decision-makers, and researchers worldwide).

International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) is a nonprofit, international, educational and scientific organization that strives to increase the efficiency, effectiveness, and fairness of health care resource use to improve health. 

For more information: www.ispor.org

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