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BACKGROUND: There is an increasing interest to obtain adolescents' own health state valuation preferences and to understand how these differ from adult preferences for the same health state. An important question in health state valuation is whether adolescents can report preferences reliably, yet research remains limited. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to investigate the test-retest reliability of best-worst scaling (BWS) to elicit adolescent preferences compared with adults. METHODS: Identical BWS tasks designed to value 3-level version of EQ-5D-Y health states were administered online in samples of 1000 adolescents (aged 11-17 years) and 1006 adults in Spain. The valuation survey was repeated approximately 3 days later. We calculated (1) simple percentage agreement and (2) kappa statistic as measures of test-retest reliability. We also compared BWS marginal frequencies and relative attribute importance between baseline and follow-up to explore similarities in the obtained preferences. RESULTS: We found that both adolescents and adults were able to report their preferences with moderate reliability (kappa: 0.46 for adolescents, 0.46 for adults) for best choices and fair to moderate reliability (kappa: 0.39 for adolescents, 0.41 for adults) for worst choices. No notable difference was observed across years of child age. Higher consistency was observed for best choices than worst in some dimensions for both populations. No significant differences were found in the relative attribute importance between baseline and follow-up in both populations. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that BWS is a reliable elicitation technique to value 3-level version of EQ-5D-Y health states in both adolescents and adults.

BACKGROUND: Recruitment of participants is crucial to the success of randomised control trials (RCTs) but can be challenging and expensive. Current research on trial efficiency is often focused at the patient-level with an emphasis on effective recruitment strategies. Less is known about selection of study sites to optimise recruitment. We examine site-level factors that are associated with patient recruitment and cost efficiency using data from an RCT conducted across 25 general practices (GP) in Victoria, Australia. METHODS: Data on number of participants screened, excluded, eligible, recruited, and randomised from each study site were extracted from a clinical trial. Details regarding site characteristics, recruitment practices, and staff time commitment were collected using a three-part survey. The key outcomes assessed were recruitment efficiency (ratio of screened to randomised), average time, and cost for each participant recruited and randomised. To identify practice-level factors associated with efficient recruitment and lower cost, outcomes were dichotomised (25th percentile vs others) and each practice-level factor assessed against the outcomes to determine its association. RESULTS: Across 25 GP study sites, 1968 participants were screened of which 299 (15.2%) were recruited and randomised. The mean recruitment efficiency was 7.2, varying from 1.4 to 19.8 across sites. The strongest factor associated with efficiency was assigning clinical staff to identify potential participants (57.14% vs. 22.2%). The more efficient sites were smaller practices and were more likely to be rural locations and in areas of lower socioeconomic status. The average time used for recruitment was 3.7 h (SD2.4) per patient randomised. The mean cost per patient randomised was $277 (SD161), and this varied from $74 to $797 across sites. The sites identified with the 25% lowest recruitment cost (n = 7) were more experienced in research participation and had high levels of nurse and/o

BACKGROUND: There is increasing interest in the validation of pediatric preference-based health-related quality of life measurement instruments. It is critical that children with various degrees of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) impact are included in validation studies. To inform patient sample selection for validation studies from a pragmatic perspective, this study explored HRQoL impairments between known-groups and HRQoL changes over time across 27 common chronic child health conditions and identified conditions with the largest impact on HRQoL. METHODS: The health dimensions of two common preference-based HRQoL measures, the EQ-5D-Y and CHU9D, were constructed using Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory items that overlap conceptually. Data was from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, a nationally representative sample with over 10,000 children at baseline. Seven waves of data were included for the analysis, with child age ranging from 2 to18 years. Impacts to specific health dimensions and overall HRQoL between those having a specific condition versus not were compared using linear mixed effects models. HRQoL changes over time were obtained by calculating the HRQoL differences between two consecutive time points, grouped by "Improved" and "Worsened" health status. Comparison among various health conditions and different age groups (2-4 years, 5-12 years and 13-18 years) were made. RESULTS: Conditions with the largest statistically significant total HRQoL impairments of having a specific condition compared with not having the condition were recurrent chest pain, autism, epilepsy, anxiety/depression, irritable bowel, recurrent back pain, recurrent abdominal pain, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) for the total sample (2-18 years). Conditions with largest HRQoL improvement over time were anxiety/depression, ADHD, autism, bone/joint/muscle problem, recurrent abdominal pain, recurrent pain in other part, frequent headache, diarrhe

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare the psychometric performance of common generic paediatric health-related quality-of-life instrument descriptive systems (PedsQL generic core 4.0, EQ-5D-Y-3L, EQ-5D-Y-5L, Child Health Utility 9D [CHU9D], Assessment of Quality of Life 6D [AQoL-6D], and Health Utilities Index Mark 3 [HUI3]) by child age, report type, and health status. METHODS: Data for children aged 5-18 years were from the Australian Paediatric Multi-Instrument Comparison study. Ceiling effects, test-retest reliability, known-group validity, convergent and divergent validity, and responsiveness were assessed in the total sample and by child age (5-12 years vs 13-18 years), report type (self- vs proxy report), and health status. Instruments were scored using an exploratory level sum score (LSS) approach. RESULTS: Survey data were available for 5945 children, with follow-up data available for 2346 children. The EQ-5D-Y-3L demonstrated ceiling effects. The PedsQL, EQ-5D-Y-3L, EQ-5D-Y-5L, and CHU9D demonstrated acceptable test-retest reliability. All instruments demonstrated known-group, convergent, and divergent validity. The EQ-5D-Y-3L, EQ-5D-Y-5L, and CHU9D demonstrated responsiveness to improvements in health and the PedsQL, EQ-5D-Y-3L, EQ-5D-Y-5L, and CHU9D to worsening health. The AQoL-6D and HUI3 had inconclusive test-retest reliability and responsiveness evidence due to small sample size. Importantly, ceiling effects, test-retest reliability and responsiveness varied by subgroup. CONCLUSION: Results reflect instrument performance using LSSs, which may differ to utility scores. In the total sample, the EQ-5D-Y-5L and CHU9D descriptive systems demonstrated evidence of good performance (i.e., meeting prespecified criteria) across all psychometric attributes tested. Performance varied by child age and report type, indicating room for considerations by population and study.

INTRODUCTION: Integrated community healthcare Hubs may offer a 'one stop shop' for service users with complex health and social needs, and more efficiently use service resources. Various policy imperatives exist to implement Hub models of care, however, there is a dearth of research specifically evaluating Hubs targeted at families experiencing adversity. To contribute to building this evidence, we propose to co-design, test and evaluate integrated Hub models of care in two Australian community health services in low socioeconomic areas that serve families experiencing adversity: Wyndham Vale in Victoria and Marrickville in New South Wales. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This multisite convergent mixed-methods study will run over three phases to (1) develop the initial Hub programme theory through formative research; (2) test and, then, (3) refine the Hub theory using empirical data. Phase 1 involves co-design of each Hub with caregivers, community members and practitioners. Phase 2 uses caregiver and Hub practitioner surveys at baseline, and 6 and 12 months after Hub implementation, and in-depth interviews at 12 months. Two stakeholder groups will be recruited: caregivers (n=100-200 per site) and Hub practitioners (n=20-30 per site). The intervention is a co-located Hub providing health, social, legal and community services with no comparator. The primary outcomes are caregiver-reported: (i) identification of, (ii) interventions received and/or (iii) referrals received for adversity from Hub practitioners. The study also assesses child, caregiver, practitioner and system outcomes including mental health, parenting, quality of life, care experience and service linkages. Primary and secondary outcomes will be assessed by examining change in proportions/means from baseline to 6 months, from 6 to 12 months and from baseline to 12 months. Service linkages will be analysed using social network analysis. Costs of Hub implementation and a health economics analysis of unmet need wil

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) for children (aged ≤ 18 years) present methodological challenges. PROMs can be categorised by their diverse underlying conceptual bases, including functional, disability and health (FDH) status; quality of life (QoL); and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Some PROMs are designed to be accompanied by preference weights. PROMs should account for childhood developmental differences by incorporating age-appropriate health/QoL domains, guidance on respondent type(s) and design. This systematic review aims to identify generic multidimensional childhood PROMs and synthesise their characteristics by conceptual basis, target age, measurement considerations, and the preference-based value sets that accompany them. METHODS: The study protocol was registered in the Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (CRD42021230833), and reporting followed Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. We conducted systematic database searches for generic multidimensional childhood PROMs covering the period 2012-2020, which we combined with published PROMs identified by an earlier systematic review that covered the period 1992-2011. A second systematic database search identified preference-based value sets for generic multidimensional PROMs. The PROMs were categorised by conceptual basis (FDH status, QoL and HRQoL) and by target age (namely infants and pre-schoolers aged < 5 years, pre-adolescents aged 5-11, adolescents aged 12-18 and multi-age group coverage). Descriptive statistics assessed how PROM characteristics (domain coverage, respondent type and design) varied by conceptual basis and age categories. Involvement of children in PROM development and testing was assessed to understand content validity. Characteristics of value sets available for the childhood generic multidimensional PROMs were identified and compared. RESULTS: We identified 89 PROMs, including 110 versions

PURPOSE: To examine the relationships between physical health problems, and borderline or clinical levels of mental health symptoms and children's health-related quality of life (HRQoL). METHODS: Data were from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (2004-2018). Parents reported on their child's HRQoL (PedsQL), physical health problems and mental health symptoms (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, SDQ). A pooled cross-sectional analysis using linear regressions examined the relationships between physical health and clinical/borderline mental health symptoms, individually and when multi-morbid, and children's HRQoL, and whether these relationships vary by a range of child, family and social factors. RESULTS: The sample comprised 47,567 observations of children aged 4-17 years. Borderline and clinical levels of mental health symptoms were associated with significantly lower HRQoL, equal to more than two-times (10.5 points) and more than three-times (16.8 points) the clinically meaningful difference, respectively. This was a larger difference than that associated with physical health problems (4.4 points). We found a significant interaction effect between physical health problems and clinical mental health symptoms which was associated with even poorer HRQoL after accounting for the individual relationships of both problems. Mental health problems were associated with poorer HRQoL for older versus younger children; and the interaction effect was significant for boys but not girls. CONCLUSION: Findings highlight the importance of identifying and addressing mental health symptoms in children of all ages, even if these problems do not meet formal clinical criteria. Particular attention should be paid to the mental health and HRQoL of children with physical-mental multimorbidity, who are at risk of disproportionately poorer HRQoL.

BACKGROUND: The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a major impact on healthcare services with many changes to telehealth care delivery. More information is needed about the patient perspective of telehealth in hospital services and the potential costs and benefits for patients. AIM: To measure patients' evaluation of telehealth, preferences for telehealth versus in-person appointments, and potential cost savings by patient characteristics. METHODS: A cross-sectional online survey (including patient and appointment characteristics, telehealth evaluation, preferences for care and costs) of adult patients using video telehealth in four metropolitan tertiary hospital services in Melbourne, Victoria. RESULTS: A total of 1045 patients (median age 44 years; interquartile range 29-59) participated with an overall response rate of 9.2%. For 98.7% patients, telehealth was convenient, 96.4% stated that it saved time, 95.9% found telehealth acceptable to receive care and 97.0% found that telehealth improved their access to care. Most (62.6%) preferred in-person consultations, although 86.9% agreed that telehealth was equivalent to an in-person consultation. Those in regional and rural areas were less likely to prefer in-person consultations. Patients attending for medical reasons were less likely to prefer in-person consultation compared with patients with surgical reasons. Patient preference to telehealth was independent of level of education, appointment type, self-rated health status and socio economic status. Patients saved an average of A$120.9 (standard deviation A$93.0) per appointment, with greater cost savings for patients from low and middle socio economic areas and regional or rural areas. CONCLUSION: Telehealth video consultations were largely evaluated positively with most patients considering the service to be as good as in-person. Understanding patient preference is critical to consider when implementing telehealth as mainstream across hospital

INTRODUCTION: Advances in the care of patients with single-ventricle congenital heart disease have led to a new generation of individuals living with a Fontan circulation. For people with Fontan physiology, physical, psychological and neurodevelopmental challenges are common. The objective of this study is to describe and develop a deeper understanding of the factors that contribute to quality of life (QOL) among children, adolescents and adults living with a Fontan circulation across Australia and New Zealand, their parents and siblings. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This article presents the protocol for the Australian and New Zealand Fontan Registry (ANZFR) QOL Study, a cross-sectional, population-based study designed to examine QOL among people of all ages with a Fontan circulation, their parents and siblings. Study eligibility criteria includes (1) individuals with a Fontan circulation aged ≥6 years, at least 12 months post-Fontan procedure and enrolled in the ANZFR; (2) parents of individuals enrolled in the ANZFR; and (3) siblings aged ≥6 years of an individual enrolled in the ANZFR. A novel, online research platform is used to distribute personalised assessments tailored to participant age and developmental stage. A suite of validated psychometric self-report and parent-proxy report instruments capture potential correlates and predictors of QOL, including symptoms of psychological distress, personality attributes, coping and cognitive appraisals, family functioning, healthcare experiences and costs, access to emotional support and socioeconomic factors. Clinical characteristics are captured via self-report and parent-proxy report, as well as the ANZFR. Descriptive analyses and multilevel models will be used to examine QOL across groups and to investigate potential explanatory variables. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Approval has been obtained from all relevant Human Research Ethics Committees (HRECs), including the Sydney Children's Hospitals Network and the Royal Child

INTRODUCTION: Australia's current healthcare system for children is neither sustainable nor equitable. As children (0-4 years) comprise the largest proportion of all primary care-type emergency department presentations, general practitioners (GPs) report feeling undervalued as an integral member of a child's care, and lacking in opportunities for support and training in paediatric conditions. This Strengthening Care for Children (SC4C) randomised trial aims to evaluate a novel, integrated GP-paediatrician model of care, that, if effective, will improve GP quality of care, reduce burden to hospital services and ensure children receive the right care, at the right time, closer to home. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: SC4C is a stepped wedge cluster randomised controlled trial (RCT) of 22 general practice clinics in Victoria and New South Wales, Australia. General practice clinics will provide control period data before being exposed to the 12-month intervention which will be rolled out sequentially each month (one clinic per state) until all 22 clinics receive the intervention. The intervention comprises weekly GP-paediatrician co-consultation sessions; monthly case discussions; and phone and email paediatrician support, focusing on common paediatric conditions. The primary outcome of the trial is to assess the impact of the intervention as measured by the proportion of children's (0-<18 years) GP appointments that result in a hospital referral, compared with the control period. Secondary outcomes include GP quality of care; GP experience and confidence in providing paediatric care; family trust in and preference for GP care; and the sustainability of the intervention. An implementation evaluation will assess the model to inform acceptability, adaptability, scalability and sustainability, while a health economic evaluation will measure the cost-effectiveness of the intervention. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Human research ethics committee (HREC) approval was granted by The Royal C

BACKGROUND: Australia has one of the highest prevalence of childhood food allergy in the world, but there are no data on its economic burden in Australia. METHODS: We used data from the HealthNuts study, a population-based longitudinal study undertaken in Melbourne, Australia. Infants were recruited at age 12 months between Sept 2007 and Aug 2011 with food allergy diagnosed using oral food challenges. Health care costs of out-of-hospital services were collected through data linkage to Australia's universal health insurance scheme Medicare. Two-part model was used to compare costs after controlling for potential confounders. RESULTS: 2919 children were included, and 390 (13.4%) had challenge-confirmed food allergy at age 1 year. Compared with children without food allergy, children with food allergy had significantly higher costs for GP visits, specialist visits, tests, and prescriptions in the first four years of life. The total Medicare cost associated with food allergy from age 1 to 4 years was estimated to be AUD$889.7 (95% CI $566.1-$1188.3) or €411.0 (95% CI €261.5-€549.0) per child. This was projected into an annual Medicare cost of AUD$26.1 million (95% CI $20.1-$32.3 million) or €12.1 (95% CI €9.3-€14.9 million) based on population size in 2020. CONCLUSIONS: Childhood food allergy causes considerable Medicare costs for out-of-hospital services in the first four years after birth in Australia. These findings can help anticipate the financial impact on the health care system associated with childhood food allergy, act as a useful costing resource for future evaluations, and inform management of childhood food allergy internationally.

In the original version of this article, the author’s name Emily Lancsar was incorrectly written as Emily Lanscar. The original article has been corrected.

Introduction Emerging evidence indicates that rehabilitation can improve ataxia, mobility and independence in everyday activities in individuals with hereditary cerebellar ataxia. However, with the rarity of the genetic ataxias and known recruitment challenges in rehabilitation trials, most studies have been underpowered, non-randomised or non-controlled. This study will be the first, appropriately powered randomised controlled trial to examine the efficacy of an outpatient and home-based rehabilitation programme on improving motor function for individuals with hereditary cerebellar ataxia. Methods and analysis This randomised, single-blind, parallel group trial will compare a 30-week rehabilitation programme to standard care in individuals with hereditary cerebellar ataxia. Eighty individuals with a hereditary cerebellar ataxia, aged 15 years and above, will be recruited. The rehabilitation programme will include 6 weeks of outpatient land and aquatic physiotherapy followed immediately by a 24-week home exercise programme supported with fortnightly physiotherapy sessions. Participants in the standard care group will be asked to continue their usual physical activity. The primary outcome will be the motor domain of the Functional Independence Measure. Secondary outcomes will measure the motor impairment related to ataxia, balance, quality of life and cost-effectiveness. Outcomes will be administered at baseline, 7 weeks, 18 weeks and 30 weeks by a physiotherapist blinded to group allocation. A repeated measures mixed-effects linear regression model will be used to analyse the effect of the treatment group for each of the dependent continuous variables. The primary efficacy analysis will follow the intention-to-treat principle. Ethics and dissemination The study has been approved by the Monash Health Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC/18/MonH/418) and the Human Research Ethics Committee of the Northern Territory Department of Health and Menzies School of Health Re

INTRODUCTION: Measures of health-related quality of life (HRQoL), accompanied by the values (or utilities) required to estimate quality-adjusted life-years, are crucial for determining health benefits within economic evaluation and health technology assessment. Several generic and condition-specific measures or instruments of HRQoL, accompanied by values, currently exist for application with child populations. However, there is a lack of a structured summary of guidelines and recommendations for applying these measures in practice. This protocol describes a systematic review of guidelines and recommendations for child and proxy completion of child-specific measures of HRQoL. The aims of the review are to (1) identify and summarise published guidelines and recommendations for existing child-specific measures of HRQoL, (2) determine whether the identified guidelines and recommendations differ by instrument and child characteristics, (3) identify current gaps in these guidelines and recommendations and (4) identify best practices for child self and proxy assessment in paediatric HRQoL measurement for economic evaluation and health technology assessment. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The review will identify, collate and synthesise published guidelines and recommendations for existing child-specific utility measures of HRQoL. Electronic databases to be searched include the Cochrane Library, Medline, Scopus, Web of Science, EconLit, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Embase and Informit. The search will be extended to websites of (1) international organisations for health technology assessment, (2) regulation, health economics and HRQoL outcomes research and (3) instrument developers. Three reviewers will independently screen titles and abstracts against the inclusion criteria. A narrative synthesis will describe the key features of the guidelines identified. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval is not required as the proposed systematic review will not use primary data. A paper of the sys

AIM: To assess the cost-effectiveness of professional-mode flash glucose monitoring in adults with type 2 diabetes in general practice compared with usual clinical care. METHODS: An economic evaluation was conducted as a component of the GP-OSMOTIC trial, a pragmatic multicentre 12-month randomised controlled trial enrolling 299 adults with type 2 diabetes in Victoria, Australia. The economic evaluation was conducted from an Australian healthcare sector perspective with a lifetime horizon. Health-related quality of life (EQ-5D) and total healthcare costs were compared between the intervention and the usual care group within the trial period. The 'UKPDS Outcomes Model 2' was used to simulate post-trial lifetime costs, life expectancy and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). RESULTS: No significant difference in health-related quality of life and costs was found between the two groups within the trial period. Professional-mode flash glucose monitoring yielded greater QALYs (0.03 [95% CI: 0.02, 0.04]) and a higher cost (A$3807 [95% CI: 3604, 4007]) compared with usual clinical care using a lifetime horizon under the trial-based monitoring frequency, considered not cost-effective (incremental cost-effectiveness ratio = A$120,228). The intervention becomes cost-effective if sensor price is reduced to lower than 50%, or monitoring frequency is decreased to once per year while maintaining the same treatment effect on HbA1c . CONCLUSIONS: Including professional-mode flash glucose monitoring every 3 months as part of a management plan for people with type 2 diabetes in general practice is not cost-effective, but could be if the sensor price or monitoring frequency can be reduced.

INTRODUCTION: While most children recover from a concussion shortly after injury, approximately 30% experience persistent postconcussive symptoms (pPCS) beyond 1-month postinjury. Existing research into the treatment of pPCS have evaluated unimodal approaches, despite evidence suggesting that pPCS likely represent an interaction across various symptom clusters. The primary aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a multimodal, symptom-tailored intervention to accelerate symptom recovery and increase the proportion of children with resolved symptoms at 3 months postconcussion. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: In this open-label, assessor-blinded, randomised clinical trial, children with concussion aged 8-18 years will be recruited from The Royal Children's Hospital (The RCH) emergency department, or referred by a clinician, within 17 days of initial injury. Based on parent ratings of their child's PCS at ~10 days postinjury, symptomatic children (≥2 symptoms at least 1-point above those endorsed preinjury) will undergo a baseline assessment at 3 weeks postinjury and randomised into either Concussion Essentials (CE, n=108), a multimodal, interdisciplinary delivered, symptom-tailored treatment involving physiotherapy, psychology and education, or usual care (UC, n=108) study arms. CE participants will receive 1 hour of intervention each week, for up to 8 weeks or until pPCS resolve. A postprogramme assessment will be conducted at 3 months postinjury for all participants. Effectiveness of the CE intervention will be determined by the proportion of participants for whom pPCS have resolved at the postprogramme assessment (primary outcome) relative to the UC group. Secondary outcome analyses will examine whether children receiving CE are more likely to demonstrate resolution of pPCS, earlier return to normal activity, higher quality of life and a lower rate of utilisation of health services, compared with the UC group. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethics were approved by Th

BACKGROUND: There is a lack of psychometric evidence about pediatric health-related quality of life (HRQoL) instruments. Evidence on cost effectiveness, involving the measurement of HRQoL, is used in many countries to make decisions about pharmaceuticals, technologies, and health services for children. Additionally, valid instruments are required to facilitate accurate outcome measurement and clinical decision making. A pediatric multi instrument comparison (P-MIC) study is planned to compare the psychometric performance and measurement characteristics of pediatric HRQoL instruments. METHODS: The planned P-MIC study will collect data on approximately 6100 Australian children and adolescents aged 2-18 years via The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne and online survey panels. Participants will complete an initial survey, involving the concurrent collection of a range of pediatric HRQoL instruments, followed by a shorter survey 2-8 weeks later, involving the collection of a subset of instruments from the initial survey. Children aged ≥7 years will be asked to self-report HRQoL. Psychometric performance will be assessed at the instrument, domain, and item level. CONCLUSIONS: This paper describes the methodology of the planned P-MIC study, including benefits, limitations, and likely challenges. Evidence from this study will guide the choice of HRQoL measures used in clinical trials, economic evaluation, and other applications.

INTRODUCTION: Home-based treatment of febrile neutropenia (FN) in children with cancer with oral or intravenous antibiotics is safe and effective. There are limited data on the economic impact of this model of care. We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of implementing an FN programme, incorporating home-based intravenous antibiotics for carefully selected patients, in a tertiary paediatric hospital. METHODS: A decision analytic model was constructed to compare costs and outcomes of the home-based FN programme, with usual in-hospital treatment with intravenous antibiotics. The programme included a clinical decision rule to stratify patients by risk for severe infection and home-based eligibility criteria using disease, chemotherapy and patient-level factors. Health outcomes (quality of life) and probabilities of FN risk classification and home-based eligibility were based on prospectively collected data between 2017 and 2019. Patient-level costs were extracted from hospital administrative records. Cost-effectiveness was expressed as the incremental cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY). FINDINGS: The mean health care cost of home-based FN treatment in low-risk patients was Australian dollars (A$) 7765 per patient compared to A$20,396 for in-hospital treatment (mean difference A$12,632 [95% CI: 12,496-12,767]). Overall, the home-based FN programme was the dominant strategy, being more effective (0.0011 QALY [95% CI: 0.0011-0.0012]) and less costly. Results of the model were most sensitive to proportion of children eligible for home-based care programme. CONCLUSION: Compared to in-hospital FN care, the home-based FN programme is cost-effective, with savings arising from cheaper cost of caring for children at home. These savings could increase as more patients eligible for home-based care are included in the programme.

AIM: Paediatric head injuries (PHI) are the most common cause of trauma-related emergency department (ED) presentations. This study sought to report the incidence of PHI in Australia, examine the temporal trends from 2014 to 2018 and estimate the patient and population-level acute care costs. METHODS: Taking a public-sector health-care perspective, we applied direct and indirect hospital costs for PHI-related ED visits and acute admissions. All costs were inflated to 2018 Australian dollars ($). The patient-level analysis was performed with data from 17 841 children <18 years old enrolled in the prospective Australasian Paediatric Head Injury Study. Mechanisms of injury were characterised by the total and average acute care costs. The population-level data of PHI-related ED presentations were obtained from the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority. Age-standardised incidence rates (IR) and incidence rate ratios (IRR) were calculated, and negative binomial regression examined the temporal trend. RESULTS: The age-standardised IR for PHI was 2734 per 100 000 population in 2018, with a significant increase over 5 years (IRR 1.13, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.12-1.14; P < 0.001) and acute care costs of $154 million. Falls occurred in 70% of the study cohort, with average costs per episode of $666 (95% CI: $627-$706), accounting for 47% of acute care costs. Transportation-related injuries occurred in 4.1% of the study cohort, with average costs per episode of $8555 (95% CI: $6193-$10 917), accounting for 35% of acute care costs. CONCLUSION: PHI have increased significantly in Australia and are associated with substantial acute care costs. Population-based efforts are required for road safety and injury prevention.

INTRODUCTION: Postpartum family planning is an effective means of achieving improved health outcomes for women and children, especially in low- and middle-income settings. We assessed the cost-effectiveness of an immediate postpartum intrauterine device (PPIUD) initiative compared with standard practice in Bangladesh and Tanzania (which is no immediate postpartum family planning counseling or service provision) to inform resource allocation decisions for governments and donors. METHODS: A decision analysis was constructed to compare the PPIUD program with standard practice. The analysis was based on the number of PPIUD insertions, which were then modeled using the Impact 2 tool to produce estimates of cost per couple-years of protection (CYP) and cost per disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) averted. A micro-costing approach was used to estimate the costs of conducting the program, and downstream cost savings were generated by the Impact 2 tool. Results are presented first for the program as evaluated, and second, based on a hypothetical national scale-up scenario. One-way sensitivity analyses were conducted. RESULTS: Compared to standard practice, the PPIUD program resulted in an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of US$14.60 per CYP and US$91.13 per DALY averted in Bangladesh, and US$54.57 per CYP and US$67.67 per DALY averted in Tanzania. When incorporating estimated direct health care costs saved, the results for Bangladesh were dominant (PPIUD is cheaper and more effective versus standard practice). For Tanzania, the PPIUD initiative was highly cost-effective, with the ICER (incorporating direct health care costs saved) estimated at US$15.20 per CYP and US$18.90 per DALY averted compared to standard practice. For the national scale-up model, the results were dominant in both countries.Conclusions/implications: The PPIUD initiative was highly cost-effective in Bangladesh and Tanzania, and national scale-up of PPIUD could produce long-term savings in d

In Australia, approximately 18% of newborn babies are admitted to a neonatal intensive or special care nursery. While most babies admitted to a neonatal intensive or special care nursery are discharged home within a few weeks, around 6% of babies spend more than 2 weeks in hospital. For the parents of these babies, much of their leave entitlements (Australian Government Paid Parental Leave Scheme is up to18 weeks for the primary care giver and up to 2 weeks for partners) are used before their baby comes home from hospital. The time babies and parents spend together in the early developmental period, during the hospitalisation and when the baby is discharged home, is crucial for optimal child development and bonding. Yet care givers who have a baby admitted to neonatal intensive or special care for extended periods are not currently entitled to any extra parental leave payments in Australia. We recommend the Australian Paid Parental Leave Act is changed to allow primary carers access to 1 week of extra parental leave pay for every week in hospital (for babies admitted to hospital for more than 2 weeks), up to a maximum of 14 weeks. For fathers and partners of these babies, we recommend an additional 2 weeks of extra Dad and Partner Pay. The net cost, taking into account likely productivity benefits, would be less than 1.5% of the current cost of the scheme and would improve health and socio-economic outcomes for the baby, family and society.

BACKGROUND: Cancer patients are at significant risk of developing sepsis due to underlying malignancy and necessary treatments. Little is known about the economic burden of sepsis in this high-risk population. We estimate the short- and long-term healthcare costs of care of cancer patients with and without sepsis using individual-level linked-administrative data. METHODS: We conducted a population-based matched cohort study of cancer patients aged ≥18, diagnosed between 2010 and 2017. Cases were identified if diagnosed with sepsis during the study period, and were matched 1:1 by age, sex, cancer type and other variables to controls without sepsis. Mean costs (2018 Canadian dollars) for patients with and without sepsis up to 5 years were estimated adjusted using survival probabilities at partitioned intervals. We estimated excess cost associated with sepsis presented as a cost difference between the two cohorts. Haematological and solid cancers were analysed separately. RESULTS: 77,483 cancer patients with sepsis were identified and matched. 64.3% of the cohort were aged ≥65, 46.3% female and 17.8% with haematological malignancies. Among solid tumour patients, the excess cost of care among patients who developed sepsis was $29,081 (95%CI, $28,404-$29,757) in the first year, rising to $60,714 (95%CI, $59,729-$61,698) over 5 years. This was higher for haematology patients; $46,154 (95%CI, $45,505-$46,804) in year 1, increasing to $75,931 (95%CI, $74,895-$76,968). CONCLUSIONS: Sepsis imposes substantial economic burden and can result in a doubling of cancer care costs, particularly during the first year of cancer diagnosis. These estimates are helpful in improving our understanding of burden of sepsis along the cancer pathway and to deploy targeted strategies to alleviate this burden.

BACKGROUND: Minimally adequate treatment (MAT) is intended to represent treatment minimally sufficient for common mental health problems. For children, MAT has been defined over a twelve-month period as either eight or more mental health visits, or four to seven visits plus relevant medication. MAT is used to identify those missing out on adequate care, but it is unknown whether MAT improves children's outcomes. METHODS: This paper examines whether MAT is associated with improved outcomes for children. It uses survey data from the nationally representative Longitudinal Study of Australian children on 596 children with mental health problems based on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire at ages 8-15 years, linked to health service administrative data from 2012 to 2016. Statistical analysis examines the association of MAT with later quality of life (Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory), using a lagged dependent variable model to account for time-varying unobserved confounding. RESULTS: Compared to children with lower levels of treatment, those who received MAT between baseline and follow up had no statistically significant improvement in either quality of life or mental health symptoms. LIMITATIONS: The observational data provide insight into real-world practice but require statistical methods to account for selection into treatment. CONCLUSIONS: While clinical trials show mental health treatments can be efficacious, this study shows no evidence that children receiving MAT in routine practice have better outcomes. These findings demonstrate the need for better understanding of the nature and impact of children's mental health care as it is delivered and received in routine practice.

Objective This study reports on the characteristics of individuals conducting health service research (HSR) in Australia and New Zealand, the perceived accessibility of resources for HSR, the self-reported impact of HSR projects and perceived barriers to conducting HSR. Methods A sampling frame was compiled from funding announcements, trial registers and HSR organisation membership. Listed researchers were invited to complete online surveys. Close-ended survey items were analysed using basic descriptive statistics. Goodness of fit tests determined potential associations between researcher affiliation and access to resources for HSR. Open-ended survey items were analysed using thematic analysis. Results In all, 424 researchers participated in the study (22% response rate). Respondents held roles as health service researchers (76%), educators (34%) and health professionals (19%). Most were employed by a university (64%), and 57% held a permanent contract. Although 63% reported network support for HSR, smaller proportions reported executive (48%) or financial (26%) support. The least accessible resources were economists (52%), consumers (49%) and practice change experts (34%); researchers affiliated with health services were less likely to report access to statisticians (P<0.001), economists (P<0.001), librarians (P=0.02) and practice change experts (P=0.02) than university-affiliated researchers. Common impacts included conference presentations (94%), publication of peer-reviewed articles (87%) and health professional benefits (77%). Qualitative data emphasised barriers such as embedding research culture within services and engaging with policy makers. Conclusions The data highlight opportunities to sustain the HSR community through dedicated funding, improved access to methodological expertise and greater engagement with end-users. What is known about the topic? HSR faces several challenges, such as inequitable funding allocation and difficulties in quantifying the e

BACKGROUND: The measurement and valuation of health-related quality of life for and by young people are increasingly important, yet research on the impact of study perspective and validity of preferences obtained from young populations remains limited. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and validity of collecting EQ-5D Youth version (EQ-5D-Y) preferences from adolescents, adults, and adults from a child perspective. METHODS: A profile case best-worst scaling (BWS) online survey was administered to representative Australian and Spanish adult (age ≥ 18 years) and child (age 11-17 years) samples. Adults were told to either answer from their own perspective or for a hypothetical 10-year-old child. Marginal best- and worst-choice frequencies, analysis of dominant choices, self-reported difficulty completing the tasks, and time to complete tasks were used to determine the validity of responses. RESULTS: In Australia, 2134 adults and 1010 adolescents completed the survey. In Spain, 2007 adults and 1000 adolescents completed it. Analysis of marginal choice frequencies and dominant choices indicated that the pattern of responses between adolescents and adults was similar. For Australian respondents, having no mobility problems was rated as best by adolescents, while adults rated having no pain and discomfort as 'best'. In Spain, both adults and adolescents rated no pain or discomfort as 'best'. Australian adolescents rated very worried, sad or unhappy as 'worst', while Spanish adolescents, Spanish adults and Australian adults rated a lot of pain and discomfort as 'worst'. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest preferences from adolescents using direct BWS are valid. Our descriptive analysis also suggest that there are age-related and country-specific differences in elicitation values for the EQ-5D-Y.