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Economic Evaluation in Environmental Research and Public Health
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Economic Evaluation in Environmental Research and Public Health

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Health Economics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2021) | Viewed by 24485

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Subhash Pokhrel

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Clinical Sciences, Brunel University London, Uxbridge, Middlesex, United Kingdom
Interests: health economics; return on investment analysis; tobacco control
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Doug Coyle

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Epidemiology, Public Health and Preventive Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada; Department of Clinical Sciences, Brunel University London, Uxbridge, Middlesex, United Kingdom
Interests: health economics; uncertainty analysis in economic evaluation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the ever-changing times we are living in, with concern over potential health impacts, greater focus is being placed on the role of environmental and public health research to facilitate evidence-based policy decision-making. Economic evaluation has traditionally been applied to decision-making with respect to problems relating to the management of individuals, particularly the optimal choice of clinical management strategies. Increasingly, the need to demonstrate cost effectiveness and return on investment with respect to initiatives focusing on the environment and the health of the population as a whole are being recognized.

In this Special Issue, we invite researchers who are active in the conducting of economic evaluations in both environmental research and public health research to submit high-quality empirical and methodological articles. Articles can be in any area of environmental and public health research, but the focus must be on either the methods for, or the conducting of, studies to assess the cost effectiveness of policy, practices, or interventions.

Dr. Subhash Pokhrel
Dr. Doug Coyle
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • environmental Impact
  • climate change
  • public Health
  • health protection
  • health promotion
  • behavior change
  • cost-effectiveness
  • return on investment

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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19 pages, 3994 KiB  
Article
Estimating Economic Losses Caused by COVID-19 under Multiple Control Measure Scenarios with a Coupled Infectious Disease—Economic Model: A Case Study in Wuhan, China
by Xingtian Chen, Wei Gong, Xiaoxu Wu and Wenwu Zhao
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(22), 11753; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182211753 - 9 Nov 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2752
Abstract
Background: The outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic has caused an unprecedented public health crisis and drastically impacted the economy. The relationship between different control measures and economic losses becomes a research hotspot. Methods: In this study, the SEIR infectious disease model was revised [...] Read more.
Background: The outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic has caused an unprecedented public health crisis and drastically impacted the economy. The relationship between different control measures and economic losses becomes a research hotspot. Methods: In this study, the SEIR infectious disease model was revised and coupled with an economic model to quantify this nonlinear relationship in Wuhan. The control measures were parameterized into two factors: the effective number of daily contacts (people) (r); the average waiting time for quarantined patients (day) (g). Results: The parameter r has a threshold value that if r is less than 5 (people), the number of COVID-19 infected patients is very close to 0. A “central valley” around r = 5~6 can be observed, indicating an optimal control measure to reduce economic losses. A lower value of parameter g is beneficial to stop COVID-19 spread with a lower economic cost. Conclusion: The simulation results demonstrate that implementing strict control measures as early as possible can stop the spread of COVID-19 with a minimal economic impact. The quantitative assessment method in this study can be applied in other COVID-19 pandemic areas or countries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Economic Evaluation in Environmental Research and Public Health)
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13 pages, 319 KiB  
Article
The Cost Effectiveness of Ecotherapy as a Healthcare Intervention, Separating the Wood from the Trees
by Sebastian Hinde, Laura Bojke and Peter Coventry
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(21), 11599; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182111599 - 4 Nov 2021
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 7372
Abstract
Internationally, shifts to more urbanised populations, and resultant reductions in engagements with nature, have been a contributing factor to the mental health crisis facing many developed and developing countries. While the COVID-19 pandemic reinforced recent trends in many countries to give access to [...] Read more.
Internationally, shifts to more urbanised populations, and resultant reductions in engagements with nature, have been a contributing factor to the mental health crisis facing many developed and developing countries. While the COVID-19 pandemic reinforced recent trends in many countries to give access to green spaces more weight in political decision making, nature-based activities as a form of intervention for those with mental health problems constitute a very small part of patient pathways of care. Nature-based interventions, such as ecotherapy, are increasingly used as therapeutic solutions for people with common mental health problems. However, there is little data about the potential costs and benefits of ecotherapy, making it difficult to offer robust assessments of its cost-effectiveness. This paper explores the capacity for ecotherapy to be cost-effective as a healthcare intervention. Using a pragmatic scoping review of the literature to understand where the potential costs and health benefit lie, we applied value of information methodology to identify what research is needed to inform future cost-effectiveness assessments. We show that there is the potential for ecotherapy for people with mild to moderate common mental health problems to be cost-effective but significant further research is required. Furthermore, nature-based interventions such as ecotherapy also confer potential social and wider returns on investment, strengthening the case for further research to better inform robust commissioning. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Economic Evaluation in Environmental Research and Public Health)
12 pages, 814 KiB  
Article
Modeling Healthcare Costs Attributable to Secondhand Smoke Exposure at Home among South Korean Children
by Jeewon Park and SeungJin Bae
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(12), 4496; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17124496 - 23 Jun 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3245
Abstract
Children exposed to secondhand smoke (SHS) are at increased risk for disease. We sought to estimate the medical costs among Korean children who were exposed to SHS at home. A Markov model was developed, including five diseases (asthma, acute otitis media, acute bronchitis, [...] Read more.
Children exposed to secondhand smoke (SHS) are at increased risk for disease. We sought to estimate the medical costs among Korean children who were exposed to SHS at home. A Markov model was developed, including five diseases (asthma, acute otitis media, acute bronchitis, pneumonia and sudden infant death syndrome) that were significantly associated with SHS in children based on a systematic review. The time horizon of the analysis was 20 years (from birth to adulthood), and the cycle length was 1 week. The direct healthcare costs were discounted annually at 5%. Univariate and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were conducted. The Markov model estimated the healthcare costs for 20 years as 659.61 USD per exposed child, an increase of approximately 30% compared to the cost per unexposed child (507.32 USD). Sensitivity analysis suggested that the younger the age of the exposure, the greater the incremental healthcare costs incurred, implying that infants and young children were especially vulnerable to the SHS exposure. Findings of this study could provide key baseline data for future economic evaluations on SHS control policies in South Korea. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Economic Evaluation in Environmental Research and Public Health)
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15 pages, 1975 KiB  
Article
Cost-Effectiveness of Dengue Vaccination in Indonesia: Considering Integrated Programs with Wolbachia-Infected Mosquitos and Health Education
by Auliya A. Suwantika, Angga P. Kautsar, Woro Supadmi, Neily Zakiyah, Rizky Abdulah, Mohammad Ali and Maarten J. Postma
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(12), 4217; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17124217 - 12 Jun 2020
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 5208
Abstract
Despite the fact that morbidity and mortality rates due to dengue infection in Indonesia are relatively high, a dengue vaccination has not yet been introduced. Next to vaccination, Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes and health education have been considered to be potential interventions to prevent [...] Read more.
Despite the fact that morbidity and mortality rates due to dengue infection in Indonesia are relatively high, a dengue vaccination has not yet been introduced. Next to vaccination, Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes and health education have been considered to be potential interventions to prevent dengue infection in Indonesia. This study was aimed to analyse the cost-effectiveness of dengue vaccination in Indonesia whilst taking Wolbachia and health education programs into account. An age-structured decision tree model was developed to assess the cost-effectiveness. Approximately 4,701,100 children were followed-up in a 10-year time horizon within a 1-year analytical cycle. We compared three vaccination strategies: one focussing on vaccination only, another combining vaccination and a Wolbachia program, and a third scenario combining vaccination and health education. All scenarios were compared with a no-intervention strategy. The result showed that only vaccination would reduce dengue fever (DF), dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF), and dengue shock syndrome (DSS) by 123,203; 97,140 and 283 cases, respectively. It would save treatment cost at $10.3 million and $6.2 million from the healthcare and payer perspectives, respectively. The combination of vaccination and a Wolbachia program would reduce DF, DHF and DSS by 292,488; 230,541; and 672 cases, respectively. It would also save treatment cost at $24.3 million and $14.6 million from the healthcare and payer perspectives, respectively. The combination of vaccination and health education would reduce DF, DHF, and DSS by 187,986; 148,220; and 432 cases, respectively. It would save treatment cost at $15.6 million and $9.4 million from the healthcare and payer perspectives, respectively. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) from the healthcare perspective were estimated to be $9995, $4460, and $6399 per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained for the respective scenarios. ICERs from the payer perspective were slightly higher. It can be concluded that vaccination combined with a Wolbachia program was confirmed to be the most cost-effective intervention. Dengue infection rate, vaccine efficacy, cost of Wolbachia program, underreporting factor for hospitalization, vaccine price and mortality rate were considered to be the most influential parameters affecting the ICERs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Economic Evaluation in Environmental Research and Public Health)
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Review

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13 pages, 752 KiB  
Review
Deciphering the COVID-19 Health Economic Dilemma (HED): A Scoping Review
by Arielle Kaim, Tuvia Gering, Amiram Moshaiov and Bruria Adini
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(18), 9555; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18189555 - 10 Sep 2021
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 4865
Abstract
Lessons learnt from the initial stages of the COVID-19 outbreak indicate the need for a more coordinated economic and public health response. While social distancing has been shown to be effective as a non-pharmaceutical intervention (NPI) measure to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, [...] Read more.
Lessons learnt from the initial stages of the COVID-19 outbreak indicate the need for a more coordinated economic and public health response. While social distancing has been shown to be effective as a non-pharmaceutical intervention (NPI) measure to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, the economic costs have been substantial. Insights combining epidemiological and economic data provide new theoretical predictions that can be used to better understand the health economy tradeoffs. This literature review aims to elucidate perspectives to assist policy implementation related to the management of the ongoing and impending outbreaks regarding the Health Economic Dilemma (HED). This review unveiled the need for information-based decision-support systems which will combine pandemic spread modelling and control, with economic models. It is expected that the current review will not only support policy makers but will also provide researchers on the development of related decision-support-systems with comprehensive information on the various aspects of the HED. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Economic Evaluation in Environmental Research and Public Health)
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