"Decision analysis"

BACKGROUND: There is debate about ultrasonography screening for thyroid cancer and its cost-effectiveness. This study aimed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of early screening (ES) versus symptomatic detection (SD) for differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) in Korea. METHODS: A Markov decision analysis model was constructed to compare the cost-effectiveness of ES and SD. The model considered direct medical costs, health outcomes, and different diagnostic and treatment pathways...

Tire impression evidence can be a valuable tool during a crime scene investigation-it can link vehicles to scenes or secondary locations, and reveal information about the series of events surrounding a crime. The interpretation of tire impression evidence relies on the expertise of forensic tire examiners. To date, there have not been any studies published that empirically evaluate the accuracy and reproducibility of decisions made by tire impression examiners. This paper presents the results of a study in which 17 tire impression examiners and trainees conducted 238 comparisons on 77 distinct questioned impression-known tire comparison sets (QKsets)...

This work proposes the use of multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) to select a more environmentally friendly analytical procedure. TOPSIS, which stands for Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution, is an example of a MCDA method that may be used to rank or select best alternative based on various criteria. Thirteen analytical procedures were used in this study as TOPSIS input choices for mifepristone determination in water samples. The input data, which consisted of these choices, was described using assessment criteria based on 12 principles of green analytical chemistry (GAC)...

BACKGROUND: To develop a model for the accurate prediction of calculous obstructive pyonephrosis prior to percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PNL), leading to early local anaesthesia microchannel nephrostomy for drainage of pyonephrosis. METHODS: By comparing the differences in baseline clinical indicators between the pyonephrosis group and nonpyonephrosis groups, independent risk factors were screened out, and a diagnostic alignment diagram model for predicting calculus obstructive pyonephrosis before PNL was established...

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The understanding of the geographical variability of biomass energy is an essential requirement for the optimal location of biomass energy conversion plants. This research presents a multicriteria GIS-based assessment of biomass energy potentials and the appropriate siting of biomass plants in Nigeria. The study applies the weighted overlay multicriteria decision analysis method. Crop and forest areas, settlement (energy supply areas), shrub/grasslands, barren land, water bodies, distance from water sources, road accessibility, topography, and aspect are the criteria that were considered for locating a biomass facility in this study...

OBJECTIVE: This work aimed to construct and validate a model for predicting distant metastasis (DM) in thyroid carcinoma (TC) patients aged≥50. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The research data were collected from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program databases via SEER*Stat software (https://seer.cancer.gov/). Logistics regression was used to screen the independent risk factors for TC patients. The nomogram was constructed and validated based on the logistics regression results for predicting DM occurrence in TC patients...

BACKGROUND: The VOYAGER PAD (Efficacy and Safety of Rivaroxaban in Reducing the Risk of Major Thrombotic Vascular Events in Subjects With Symptomatic Peripheral Artery Disease Undergoing Peripheral Revascularization Procedures of the Lower Extremities) trial compared rivaroxaban (2.5 mg twice a day) plus aspirin with aspirin alone in patients with symptomatic peripheral artery disease requiring endovascular or surgical limb revascularization, with 50% receiving clopidogrel background therapy...

Background The number of orphan drug approvals is currently increasing globally. This creates a significant burden on payers and healthcare systems. This study aimed to create a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) tool for evaluating orphan drugs within the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The intended result of the tool is to provide evidence-based guidance to decision-makers in reimbursement and procurement decisions. Methods We conducted a literature search and local expert interviews to identify relevant preliminary criteria for the MCDA tool...

BACKGROUND: A non-randomized controlled trial, conducted from June 2018 to March 2019 in two rural communes in the health district of Mayahi in Niger, showed that including community health workers (CHWs) in the treatment of severe acute malnutrition (SAM) resulted in a better recovery rate (77.2% vs. 72.1%) compared with the standard treatment provided solely at the health centers. The present study aims to assess the cost and cost-effectiveness of the CHWs led treatment of uncomplicated SAM in children 6-59 months compared to the standard national protocol...

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Colorectal cancer (CRC) screening is highly effective but underused. Blood-based biomarkers (eg, liquid biopsy) could improve screening participation. METHODS: Using our established Markov model, screening every 3 years with a blood-based test that meets minimum Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' thresholds (CMSmin ) (CRC sensitivity 74%, specificity 90%) was compared with established alternatives. Test attributes were varied in sensitivity analyses...

OBJECTIVES: Health technology assessment (HTA) does not systematically account for the circumstances and needs of children and youth. To supplement HTA processes, we aimed to develop a child-tailored value assessment framework using a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) approach. METHODS: We constructed an MCDA-based model in multiple phases to create the Comprehensive Assessment of Technologies for Child Health (CATCH) framework. Using a modified Delphi process with stakeholders having broad disciplinary and geographic variation (n=23), we refined previously generated criteria and developed rank-based weights...

One of the crucial steps in the multi-criteria decision analysis involves establishing the importance of criteria and determining the relationship between them. This paper proposes an extended Hellwig's method (H_EM) that utilizes entropy-based weights and Mahalanobis distance to address this issue. By incorporating the concept of entropy, weights are determined based on their information content represented by the matrix data. The Mahalanobis distance is employed to address interdependencies among criteria, contributing to the improved performance of the proposed framework...

OBJECTIVES: Randomized controlled trials are the gold standard for evidence generation in medicine but are limited by their real-world generalizability, resource needs, shorter follow-up durations, and inability to be conducted for all clinical questions. Decision analysis models may simulate trials and observational studies by using existing data and evidence- and expert-informed assumptions, and extend analyses over longer time horizons, different study populations, and specific scenarios, helping to translate population outcomes to patient-specific clinical and economic outcomes...

While the importance of explicitly identifying and considering contingent factors such as decision content and context is widely accepted as a way to ensure the validity of the decision analysis for the specific task at hand, few studies include this. This research uses a contingency theoretical approach to study factors affecting the emigration decision of medical doctors (MDs) for the specific case of Turkey. The motivation for conducting this study arises from the observation that the growing trend in emigration among MDs from Turkey is having a significant impact on the country's healthcare system...

Water pollution presents a substantial environmental challenge with extensive implications for water resources, ecosystem sustainability, and human health. Using a South African catchment, this study aimed to provide watershed managers with a framework for selecting best management practices (BMPs) to reduce pollution and the related risk to river users, while also including the perspectives of key catchment stakeholders. The framework encompassed the identification of and consultation with key stakeholders within the catchment...

UNLABELLED: <p>Objective: To explore the application value of a combined model based on multi-parameter MRI radiomics and clinical features in preoperative prediction of lymphatic vascular space invasion (LVSI) in endometrial carcinoma (EC). METHODS: This retrospective study collected the clinicopathological and imaging data of 218 patients with EC in Yuncheng Central Hospital from March 2018 to May 2022. The patients were randomly divided into training group (n=152) and validation group (n= 66) according to the ratio of 7: 3...

Big data technologies have proliferated since the dawn of the cloud-computing era. Traditional data storage, extraction, transformation, and analysis technologies have thus become unsuitable for the large volume, diversity, high processing speed, and low value density of big data in medical strategies, which require the development of novel big data application technologies. In this regard, we investigated the most recent big data platform breakthroughs in anesthesiology and designed an anesthesia decision model based on a cloud system for storing and analyzing massive amounts of data from anesthetic records...

Wastewater reclaim in industrial parks can effectively reduce the dependence on external water resources, few literatures evaluated the reclaim system from perspectives of economy, technology, and environmental impact. It is very popular across China that a constructed wetland is linked with a wastewater plant and then discharged the tailwater into surface waters. Based on current situation, pilot experiment, and other available techniques, six scenarios for wastewater reclaim system were designed for Shanghai Chemical Industrial Park...

Forest fires have a significant impact on human life, property safety, and ecological environment. Deve-loping high-quality forest fire risk maps is beneficial for preventing forest fires, guiding resource allocation for firefighting, assisting in fire suppression efforts, and supporting decision-making. With a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) method based on geographic information systems (GIS) and literature review, we assessed the main factors influencing the occurrences of forest fires in Youxi County, Fujian Province...