Overconsumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) contributes to childhood and adult obesity and numerous related diseases, including heart disease, strokes, cancers, and type 2 diabetes. It also increases healthcare costs. Sugary drink taxes have been implemented in several countries to curb sugar intake. However, there is a concern that sugary drink taxes are regressive. This…

Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are both hematological malignancies characterized by rapid onset. While AML is more common than ALL, both typically receive cytotoxic chemotherapy in first line. Upon complete remission, patients will be considered for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT). The economic burden of malignant blood disorders…

CADTH Horizon Scanning bulletins present an overview of the technology and available evidence. They are not systematic reviews and do not involve critical appraisal, nor do they include a detailed summary of study findings. Therefore, they are not intended to provide recommendations for or against a particular technology.

Canada recently entered into two multinational trade agreements (i.e., the Canada, United States, and Mexico Trade Agreement; and the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with the European Union). The resulting federal policy changes will prolong periods of market protection afforded to eligible brand-name prescription drugs by extending competition-blocking patent and data…

Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) is an important indicator in the development and management of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Herein, we describe the management of LDL-C with lipid-lowering therapy, among patients diagnosed with clinical ASCVD in Alberta, Canada.

The treatment landscape of multiple myeloma (MM) is rapidly evolving with the availability of new therapeutic options leading to improved responses and survival rates. The INFORMM study, an ongoing, province-wide study in Alberta, Canada (population of 4.3 million in 2018), is examining treatment patterns in a real-world setting using population-based administrative data to better…

The clinical outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (NDMM) have improved. However, early mortality (EM) post-diagnosis remains a concern, with incidence ranging from 13% at 2 months to 29% at 1 year after diagnosis. EM can be influenced by patient age, comorbidities, performance status, therapy, and disease biology. Our aim is to examine EM incidence in patients…

Most pharmaceutical expenditure in Canada is private. In 2017, Canadian provincial, territorial and federal governments were reported to have spent $14.5 billion on pharmaceuticals, accounting for only 43% of total pharmaceutical expenditure.1 A combination of private insurance and patient expenditures in the form of direct payment for pharmaceuticals, deductibles and other…

In the nurse-led care (NLC) model, nurses take on the primary responsibility for patient management. We systematically assessed the effect of NLC for patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) on multiple dimensions of quality of care from the Alberta Quality of Care Matrix for Health.

A patient research internship (Patient and Community Engagement Research program-PaCER) was created to support a provincial commitment by Alberta Health Services' Strategic Clinical Networks™ to find new ways to engage patients in a new interdisciplinary organization to support evidence-informed improvements in clinical outcomes across the health system.

Healthcare providers, managers and policy-makers in many jurisdictions are focused on a common goal: optimizing value and quality of care provided to their citizens within a resource envelope. Health technology reassessment is a structured, evidence-based assessment of the clinical, social, ethical and economic effects of a technology currently used in the healthcare system to…

Middle-aged individuals classified as normal by BMI may be overweight/obese based on measures of %BF. These individuals may be at risk for chronic diseases, but would not be identified as such based on their BMI classification. Quantifying %BF in this group could inform targeted strategies for disease prevention.

Since whole-genome sequencing (WGS) information can have positive and negative personal utility for individuals, we examined predictors of willingness to pay (WTP) for WGS. Patients & methods: We surveyed two independent populations: adult patients (n = 203) and college seniors (n = 980). Ordinal logistic regression models were used to characterize the relationship between…

The growth of "big data" and the emphasis on patient-centered health care have led to the increasing use of two key technologies: personalized medicine and digital medicine. For these technologies to move into mainstream health care and be reimbursed by insurers, it will be essential to have evidence that their benefits provide reasonable value relative to their costs. These technologies,…

We examine key study design challenges of using stated-preference methods to estimate the value of whole-genome sequencing (WGS) as a specific example of genomic testing. Assessing the value of WGS is complex because WGS provides multiple findings, some of which can be incidental in nature and unrelated to the specific health concerns that motivated the test. In addition, WGS results…