Health technology assessment (HTA) is becoming more and more popular recently. For populations in China that share at least half of the global disease burden of liver cancer, it is extremely vital to give rise to an efficient secondary prevention strategy. The China central government launched liver cancer screening program in rural areas in 2005, and then extended to populations in urban in 2012. The studies of health technology assessment of liver cancer screening are based on available evidence, from an HTA perspective, aims to evaluate performance of liver screening, economic burden and cost-effectiveness and some other issues, in order to raise suggestions for possible directions in research and public health program related to liver cancer screening in China.
ObjectiveTo evaluate the efficacy, safety and economy of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and to provide basis for clinical dosing and decision-making. MethodsComputerized searches of PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, CNKI, WanFang Data, VIP and official websites of domestic and international health technology assessment (HTA) organizations were conducted to collect HTA reports, safety and economic data on the use of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors (nabulizumab, pembrolizumab, cimeplizumab, atilizumab, and duvarizumab) for NSCLC HTA reports, systematic reviews (SR)/Meta-analyses, and pharmacoeconomic studies, all with a search timeframe of March 2024 from the time of library construction. After data extraction and quality assessment, the results of the included studies were analyzed descriptively. ResultsA total of 16 papers were included, including 16 SR/Meta-analyses and 2 pharmacoeconomic studies. Compared with first-line chemotherapy, PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors increased the efficiency and disease control rate, prolonged the survival time, improved the quality of survival, and reduced grade 3-5 treatment-related adverse effects (including fatigue, dyspnea, anemia, pneumonia, severe skin reactions, nausea, diarrhea, decreased appetite, and leukopenia) in NSCLC patients. Cemiplizumab was cost-effective when the WTP threshold was $100 000/QALY, and pembrolizumab was cost-effective when the WTP threshold was $150 000/QALY. ConclusionPD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors (nabulizumab, pabolizumab, cimiplizumab, atilizumab, and duvarizumab) are efficacious, safe, and cost-effective for use in NSCLC; however, given the small number of pharmacoeconomic studies included, economic conclusions drawn need to be interpreted with caution.
This paper used the application of health technology assessment (HTA) in medical insurance directory adjustment as an example, introduced NICE’s HTA in UK from seeking legislative support for HTA, established the system of HTA, improved the process of HTA and increasing awareness of using HTA among decision-maker, and provided suggestions for the development and advancement of HTA in China.
Objective To systematically review published methodological guidelines for health technology assessment (HTA) at home and abroad. Methods Common electronic databases, guideline databases, international networks of HTA agencies/organizations, representative national HTA networks and official websites of governmental health departments were extensively searched and screened to identify guidelines for conducting or reporting HTA from inception to April 24, 2023. Basic information on guidelines, HTA processes, assessment indicators, reporting checklists and other information was extracted, analyzed and described using a systematic review methodology. Results A total of 41 guidelines were included in this study, published from January 2002 to January 2023; the publishing institutions involved 23 countries/international organizations, and 6 languages; the assessments were mainly for all health technologies (n=23), pharmaceuticals (n=4), diagnostic/testing technologies (n=4), non-pharmaceutical health technologies (n=3), medical devices/equipment (n=3), hospital health technologies (n=2), medical and surgical interventions (n=1), and screening technologies (n=1); the assessment perspectives were mainly health system perspectives (n=16), societal perspectives (n=12), and hospital perspectives (n=3), while the rest did not provide information on the perspectives; 28 guidelines described the detailed HTA assessment process, involving 11 steps; there were 39 guidelines described the assessment domains and related assessment indicators in detail, ranging from 2 to 9 assessment domains and involving 10 first-level assessment indicators; a checklist for HTA reports listed in 10 guidelines, involving 18 report entries; 17 guidelines reported conflicts of interest, mostly no conflicts of interest (n=10), and 3 of the remaining 7 guidelines did not indicate a specific conflict of interest, while 4 guidelines in which possible sources of conflict of interest were indicated. Conclusion The development of HTA has formed a relatively perfect assessment system, but there is a need to unify the criteria for classification of health technologies and reporting checklist, improve the specificity indicators for different types of health technologies, and clarify the assessment perspectives. Combined with the current situation of HTA development in China, contextualized guidelines for HTA implementation and reporting should be formulated to provide scientific information and methodological basis for decision-making on rational allocation of health resources.
ObjectivesTo provide a reference for the evaluation procedures of genetic testing technology applicable to China by combining the existing evaluation frameworks and procedures for genetic testing techniques globally, and also put forward design suggestions for the construction of evaluation procedures in China.MethodsThe literature research method was primarily used to summarize different evaluation progress, as well as put forward design suggestions.ResultsAt present, numerous developed countries have organized genetic testing technology evaluation projects. The various evaluation frameworks developed were based on the ACCE or HTA framework. The evaluation and decision-making procedures were similar in general, including topic selection, evaluation implementation, results reporting and making recommendations. However, there still remained difficulties such as limited evidence and uncertainty in decision-making.ConclusionsTo establish the procedures of genetic testing technology applicable in China, the following specific procedures are recommended: selecting target genetic testing technology topics; analyzing necessity and feasibility of target testing technology evaluation; evaluating and reviewing the evidence; applying results and decision-making transformation; developing regular review and revision mechanisms.
Objective To investigate the health technology assessment reports, analyze publication characteristics and report quality, and explore hot topics in health technology assessment. Methods Web of Science and CNKI databases were searched to collect complete health technology assessment reports from inception to January 2023. SPSS 26.0 software was used to analyze the publication journals, countries, number of authors, assessment types and assessment contents of the assessment reports. The report quality was assessed based on International Network of Agencies for Health Technology Assessment (INAHTA) report criteria (2007 edition). VOSviewer 1.6.11 was used to analyze keywords clustering. Results A total of 216 papers were included, with 158 published by Chinese authors, and a rapid growth trend in the number of reports over past four years. The rate of reports on health technology social adaptability assessment was only 17.13%. Among the Chinese reports, 25 were general health technology assessments, 35 were rapid assessments, and 3 were mini assessments. Among the English reports, 4 were rapid assessments, and 54 were regular healthcare technology assessments. For the 14 items in the INAHTA reporting criteria, the reporting rates were high for the brief summary (98.61%), problem description (94.91%), and results discussion entries (97.69%). However, the reporting rates were low for criteria such as personnel responsibilities, conflict of interest statements, and peer review statements, at 31.94%, 19.44%, and 3.24% respectively. English literature generally exhibited higher report quality. Conclusion In recent years, the volume of health technology assessment reports in China has been increasing, with developments in assessment types and application fields. However, there are also problems with standardization of reporting.
Background In the latter of 20th century, a global growth in allergic diseases has been witnessed, accompanying with spring-out of therapeutic drugs. However, trials did not clarify the comparative effectiveness and pharmaceutical economics of these agents. Severe adverse drug effects have been reported increasingly in the last few years. These made it difficult for clinical practice and selection of national essential drugs. Objective To assess astemizole, loratadine, cetirizine and tefenadine for allergic rhinitis (AR) and urticaria in terms of effectiveness, heart-related drug adverse effects and pharmaceutical economics. Search strategy Cochrane Library, Medline, Embase and Chinese Biomedical Database will be searched. Additional database should be searched for safety and economic studies. Selection Criteria The publication languages are restrained to English and Chinese. 1) Effectiveness: high-quality randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and systematic Reviews (SRs)/ meta-analysis for AR and uritcaria are included, with comparisons restrained to among these four drugs; 2) Safety: a hierarchy of evidences of these four drugs for allergic diseases are included. 3) Economical evaluation: cost-effectiveness and cost-utility assessment of these four drugs for AR and urticaria should be included. Methods of review data extraction sheet and quality appraisal table are separately designed. QUOROM STATEMENT and Jadad Scale are applied, respectively, to SRs and RCTs. Two reviewers independently select the studies, appraise the quality and extract the data. Any disagreement is solved by discussion. Data analysis Fixed effect model is first applied. Sensitivity analysis is employed to study the heterogeneity between trials. Randomized effect model is alternatively used when compromised.
Objective To systematically review the efficacy, safety, cost-effectiveness, indications, contraindications, and ethical issues for surgical treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Methods The CNKI, WanFang Data, VIP, PubMed, Web of Science, Embase and Cochrane Library databases were electronically searched to collect for relevant studies on surgical treatment of AD from inception to November 26, 2024. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias of the included studies. Meta-analysis was performed by using Stata 17 software. Results A total of 59 studies were included. The results revealed that surgical treatment for AD had higher safety (OR=0.44, 95%CI 0.17 to 0.72, P<0.05), and patients had better ADAS-cog scores (SMD=0.54, 95%CI 0.18 to 0.90, P<0.05), with statistically significant differences. The economic burden of surgical treatment for AD increased with the severity of the disease. Deep brain stimulation may offer high economic benefits in the treatment of mild AD. The surgical indications can be summarized as: short disease duration, mild to moderate severity, and insufficient response to pharmacological interventions. Regarding contraindications, analysis of the included literature identified four core aspects: physiological and pathological contraindications, medical comorbidities and surgical risk contraindications, cognitive and psychological factor contraindications, and other contraindications. Ethical issues can be categorized into: informed consent and autonomy, ethical review and approval of research, and assessment of risks and benefits. Conclusion Current evidence suggests that surgical treatment for AD has certain benefits, but the surgical approaches for treating AD are still in the exploratory stage. Limited by the number and quality of the included studies, the above conclusion still requires more high-quality research to be verified.
Objective This review compared clinical effectiveness, cardiac safety and economics of astemizole, loratadine, cetirizine and terfenadine to provide evidence for adjustment of Essential Drug List in China. Search strategy We searched Medline, Cochrane Library, Embase and Chinese Biomedical Database. Fourteen databases for drug safety and pharmaceutical economics were additionally searched. Selection Criteria Randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews, published in English and Chinese and comparing two or more of these four antihistamines for allergic rhinitis and urticaria were included for study of effectiveness. Non-randomized clinical trials were additionally included for economic evaluation. Cardiac safety studies of antihistamines for allergic diseases of any type were included. Quality Appraisal Jadad scale was primarily applied to randomized controlled trials. Allocation concealment and intention-to-treat analysis were also appraised. The QUOROM statement was applied to systematic reviews and meta-analysis. Data extraction and analyses For the study of effectiveness, composite data were primarily extracted and analyzed by fixed effect model. Sensitivity analysis was done to explore the heterogeneity. For the study of cardiac safety, cases of adverse drug reactions and death were summarized. Difference of occurrence rate in sex and age were analyzed if possible.Electrocardiography and clinical symptoms were summarized. Results No studies on economic evaluation were identified. 27 and 6 randomized controlled trials, including 3 227 participants, for allergic rhinitis and urticaria were identified. Cetirizine was superior to loratadine (n=709) in symptom score and onset of action, superior to terfenadine (n=645) in Quality of Life and superior to astemizole (n=498) in patient satisfaction and onset of action. 73 h-ADR cases were identified in astemizole, 27 cases in terfenadine, 1 case in loratadine and none in cetirizine. No deaths were identified. Combination of terfenadine plus grapefruit juice (n=l8), itraconazole (n=6), nefazodone (n=67), and loratadine administration concomitant with cemitidine (n=30) significantly prolonged QTc interval. Conclusions Cetirizine was superior to other three antihistamines in terms of clinical effectiveness and drug safety. Astemizole and terfenadine could cause significantly more cardiac-related adverse reactions than cetirizine and loratadine.
ObjectiveTo evaluate the efficacy, safety, and economics of omalizumab for the treatment of pediatric asthma through a rapid health technology assessment (HTA). MethodsThe search was conducted on INAHTA website and databases such as PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, SinoMed, CNKI, VIP, and WanFang Data from inception to August 2024. Literature screening, quality evaluation, and data extraction were conducted independently by two investigators. An interview was conducted to consult the medication and treatment opinions of doctors and patients to investigate its clinical application. ResultsA total of 28 articles, including HTA articles (4), SR/Meta analyses (18), and pharmacoeconomics articles (6) were included. Omalizumab could reduce the incidence of clinical exacerbations, decrease the number of asthma attacks/days with asthma symptoms, and improve the quality of life. The results of the safety evaluation showed that omalizumab could reduce the rate of serious adverse events, especially those related to worsening asthma. Foreign pharmacoeconomic studies showed ICER ranging from £30 109 to £78 009. A pharmacoeconomic study in China found an ICER of $211 217/QALY for omalizumab, which were both above the pre-set thresholds. ConclusionOmalizumab is a treatment for patients who suffer from moderate to severe persistent allergic asthma or moderate to severe allergic asthma. It has been found to improve disease symptoms without increasing serious adverse events. However, it is not considered cost-effective due to its high price.