All Resources

Best practices in the management of behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia in residents of long-term care facilities in Alberta : a health technology reassessment

Description

By 2038, 100,000 Alberta residents are projected to be diagnosed with dementia. Approximately 71 per cent of the estimated 13,000 Albertans living in long-term care facilities have a dementia... More ≫

Description

By 2038, 100,000 Alberta residents are projected to be diagnosed with dementia. Approximately 71 per cent of the estimated 13,000 Albertans living in long-term care facilities have a dementia diagnosis. While the cognitive impairment of dementia is devastating, the accompanying symptoms, generally termed the behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, are also quite challenging for patients, families and caregivers. The research objective of this study was to summarize the clinical and cost-effectiveness evidence for pharmacological and non-pharmacological alternatives to antipsychotics to support the development of a clinical practice guideline and provincial policy development for the best clinical practice alternatives to antipsychotics use for the management of behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia in long-term care facilities in Alberta.

Tags

Assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) : final report

Description

Under the auspices of the Alberta Health Technologies Decision Process, the Health Technology and Policy Unit at the University of Alberta was commissioned to prepare a health technology... More ≫

Description

Under the auspices of the Alberta Health Technologies Decision Process, the Health Technology and Policy Unit at the University of Alberta was commissioned to prepare a health technology assessment on assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) for the treatment of infertility, to update and expand on information provided in earlier assessments prepared by other health technology assessment partners. The primary policy questions to be answered in this review are: Should ARTs be regulated in Alberta, and, if so, what is an appropriate standard?; Should ARTs be publicly funded in Alberta, and for whom?; and What are the implications of funding without regulating and of regulating without funding?

Tags

Use of Oncotype DX for guiding adjuvant chemotherapy decisions in early stage invasive breast cancer patients in Alberta : a health technology assessment

Description

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in Canadian women, accounting for an estimated 26 per cent of all cancer cases at the time of publication. Gene expression profiling (GEP) is an emerging... More ≫

Description

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in Canadian women, accounting for an estimated 26 per cent of all cancer cases at the time of publication. Gene expression profiling (GEP) is an emerging technology that may be able to successfully divide breast cancer patients into prognostic groups based on genes that increase in proliferating cells. Oncotype DX (Genome Health Inc.) is one commercially available GEP in Canada. However, there are concerns about the value-added merit of this testing. The primary policy question to be answered by this report is: Should Oncotype DX be publicly funded in Alberta? Other research objectives of the study include: determining the safety and effectiveness/efficacy of Oncotype DX as a decision support tool for adjuvant chemotherapy treatment decisions in women with early stage invasive breast cancer; determining the cost-effectiveness of Oncotype DX and other relevant comparators, and determining the budget impact of Oncotype DX as a decision support...

Tags

Level I and Level III sleep studies for the diagnosis of sleep disordered breathing (SDB) in adults : final report

Description

Sleep disordered breathing (SDB) includes various conditions caused by problems with respiration during sleep, and the number of Albertans with SDB is increasing. Level I sleep studies, or... More ≫

Description

Sleep disordered breathing (SDB) includes various conditions caused by problems with respiration during sleep, and the number of Albertans with SDB is increasing. Level I sleep studies, or polysomnography, involve overnight testing in a sleep laboratory with a trained health care professional in attendance. Level I polysomnography is an imperfect gold standard and an expensive test to perform. Level III sleep studies, using portable devices intended for patients to use at home may provide an alternative diagnostic tool for some patients. To assess the safety and effectiveness of SDB diagnosis, and to delineate which sub-populations of patients might benefit from level III versus level I, two reviews were prepared: one of the published evidence on level III studies and another on level I studies. An additional review was prepared for the economic evaluation of sleep studies.

Tags

Corneal crosslinking for Keratoconus and other corneal thinning disorders

Description

Corneal thinning disorders are rare progressive disorders that can either be caused by a primary disease process (keratoconus) or may be secondary to another process; such as post... More ≫

Description

Corneal thinning disorders are rare progressive disorders that can either be caused by a primary disease process (keratoconus) or may be secondary to another process; such as post laser-in-situ-keratomileusis (LASIK) induced keratectasia (KE). It has been estimated that the most common corneal thinning disorder, keratoconus (KC), affects 1 in every 2000 people globally. Corneal crosslinking using riboflavin and ultraviolet-A radiation (CXL) is an emerging technology which may be used for managing corneal thinning disorders. The purpose of this review is to determine the safety, clinical efficacy, social impact and economic value of CXL for the management of corneal thinning disorders.

Tags

Transarterial radioembolization for the treatment of hepatic neoplasia : update of the 2010 STE report

Description

The present report is an update to the November 2010 STE Report: Transarterial Radioembolization for the treatment of Hepatic Neoplasia. The past report assessed the effectiveness of TARE for... More ≫

Description

The present report is an update to the November 2010 STE Report: Transarterial Radioembolization for the treatment of Hepatic Neoplasia. The past report assessed the effectiveness of TARE for onsideration as a publically funded health service in Alberta. This update assesses literature published between February 2010 and March 2012 on the effectiveness of TARE for hepatic neoplasia. The results of this update will provide information on the amount of recent research activity into TARE and changes in TARE’s effectiveness.

Tags

A health technology assessment of transient elastography in liver disease

Description

Liver disease affects over two million Canadians. Liver biopsy is the current standard of care for diagnosing, staging and monitoring liver disease. It is an invasive procedure associated with a... More ≫

Description

Liver disease affects over two million Canadians. Liver biopsy is the current standard of care for diagnosing, staging and monitoring liver disease. It is an invasive procedure associated with a number of risks including bleeding, hospitalization and death. Transient elastography (TE) is an alternative, non-invasive, method of staging and monitoring liver. The intent of this report is to use current literature to determine the safety, effectiveness, social considerations and cost-effectiveness of TE for the diagnosis, staging and monitoring of liver damage associated with various liver diseases and complications due to liver transplant. The report also reviews the use of TE in paediatric patients, the use of acoustic radiation force imaging, and non-liver applications of TE.

Tags

Middle ear implants for the treatment of hearing loss : final STE report

Description

Presents a review of the evidence on middle ear implants (MEI) for the treatment of hearing loss. The objectives of the review were to determine the safety, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of... More ≫

Description

Presents a review of the evidence on middle ear implants (MEI) for the treatment of hearing loss. The objectives of the review were to determine the safety, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of MEI in comparison to external hearing aids, boneanchored hearing aids (BAHA), or cochlear implants; to identify particular sub-groups of patients who might benefit most from MEI, and to summarize the current criteria for using MEI versus alternative treatments for hearing loss.

Tags

Photodynamic therapy for skin cancer & pre-cancerous skin conditions : final STE report

Description

Presents a systematic review of the evidence on photodynamic therapy (PDT) for the treatment of pre-cancerous skin conditions (i.e. actinic keratosis), and non-melanoma skin cancers. The... More ≫

Description

Presents a systematic review of the evidence on photodynamic therapy (PDT) for the treatment of pre-cancerous skin conditions (i.e. actinic keratosis), and non-melanoma skin cancers. The objectives of the review were to determine the safety, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness and budget impact of PDT in comparison to other treatments for these conditions; to identify particular sub-groups of patients who might benefit most from PDT; and to summarize current criteria for the use of PDT and alternative treatments for these skin conditions.

Tags

An assessment of sleep disordered breathing diagnosis using Level I versus Level III sleep studies : final report

Description

This assessment considers the evidence on using Level I (in-laboratory polysomnography) versus Level III (ambulatory, in-home) sleep studies for the diagnosis of sleep disordered breathing and... More ≫

Description

This assessment considers the evidence on using Level I (in-laboratory polysomnography) versus Level III (ambulatory, in-home) sleep studies for the diagnosis of sleep disordered breathing and specific conditions that fall within this disorder.

Tags