How to obtain copies of this and other HTA programme reports An electronic version of this title, in Adobe Acrobat format, is available for downloading free of charge for personal use from the HTA website (www.hta.ac.uk). A fully searchable DVD is also available (see below).Printed copies of HTA journal series issues cost £20 each (post and packing free in the UK) to both public and private sector purchasers from our despatch agents.Non-UK purchasers will have to pay a small fee for post and packing. For European countries the cost is £2 per issue and for the rest of the world £3 per issue. How to order:-fax (with credit card details) -post (with credit card details or cheque) -phone during office hours (credit card only).Additionally the HTA website allows you to either print out your order or download a blank order form. Contact details are as follows:Synergie UK (HTA Department) Digital House, The Loddon Centre Wade Road Basingstoke Hants RG24 8QW Email: orders@hta.ac.uk Tel: 0845 812 4000 -ask for 'HTA Payment Services' (out-of-hours answer-phone service) Fax: 0845 812 4001 -put 'HTA Order' on the fax header Payment methods Paying by chequeIf you pay by cheque, the cheque must be in pounds sterling, made payable to University of Southampton and drawn on a bank with a UK address.Paying by credit card You can order using your credit card by phone, fax or post. SubscriptionsNHS libraries can subscribe free of charge. Public libraries can subscribe at a reduced cost of £100 for each volume (normally comprising 40-50 titles). The commercial subscription rate is £400 per volume (addresses within the UK) and £600 per volume (addresses outside the UK). Please see our website for details. Subscriptions can be purchased only for the current or forthcoming volume.How do I get a copy of HTA on DVD?Please use the form on the HTA website (www.hta.ac.uk/htacd/index.shtml). HTA on DVD is currently free of charge worldwide.The website also provides information about the HTA programme and lists the membership of the various committees. HTA NIHR Health Technology Assessment programmeThe Health Technology Assessment (HTA) programme, part of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), was set up in 1993. It produces high-quality research information on the effectiveness, costs and broader impact of health technologies for those who use, manage and provide care in the NHS. 'Health technologies' are broadly defined as all interventions used to promote health, prevent and treat disease, and improve rehabilitation and long-term care. The research findings from the HTA programme directly influence decision-making bodies such as the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and the National Screening Committee (NSC). HTA findings also help to improve the quality of clinical practice in the NHS indirectly in that they form a key component of the 'National Knowledge Service' . The HTA programme is needs led in that it fills gaps in the evidence needed by the NHS. There are three routes to the start of project...

Background: Multi-foetal pregnancies and multiple births including twins and higher order multiples births such as triplets and quadruplets are high-risk pregnancy and birth. These high-risk groups contribute to the higher rate of childhood mortality especially during early period of life.

Health technology assessment requires the synthesis of evidence from multiple sources to assess the cost-effectiveness of competing interventions. However, the format of the available reported evidence is often complex. We present a case-study of electronic aids to smoking cessation, which raises various methodological challenges. The evidence base evaluated highly complex and diverse interventions, reporting one or both of two different, but related, outcome measures. Furthermore, there were differences between studies in the number and timing of follow-up times reported, whereas 12-month continuous abstinence is required in the cost-effectiveness analysis. We develop a categorization system to evaluate the interventions, and we use network meta-analysis of time-to-relapse model parameters to estimate coherent intervention effects for any pair of categories. We compare the fit of alternative time-to-relapse models and explore the effect of joint models for both outcome measures, which can be used to estimate treatment effects when a given outcome is not reported, so that all the available evidence can be combined.

How to obtain copies of this and other HTA programme reports An electronic version of this title, in Adobe Acrobat format, is available for downloading free of charge for personal use from the HTA website (www.hta.ac.uk). A fully searchable DVD is also available (see below). Printed copies of HTA journal series issues cost £20 each (post and packing free in the UK) to both public and private sector purchasers from our despatch agents. Non-UK purchasers will have to pay a small fee for post and packing. For European countries the cost is £2 per issue and for the rest of the world £3 per issue. How to order:-fax (with credit card details)-post (with credit card details or cheque)-phone during office hours (credit card only). Additionally the HTA website allows you to either print out your order or download a blank order form. Tel: 0845 812 4000-ask for 'HTA Payment Services' (out-of-hours answer-phone service) Fax: 0845 812 4001-put 'HTA Order' on the fax header Payment methods Paying by cheque If you pay by cheque, the cheque must be in pounds sterling, made payable to University of Southampton and drawn on a bank with a UK address. Paying by credit card You can order using your credit card by phone, fax or post. Subscriptions NHS libraries can subscribe free of charge. Public libraries can subscribe at a reduced cost of £100 for each volume (normally comprising 40-50 titles). The commercial subscription rate is £400 per volume (addresses within the UK) and £600 per volume (addresses outside the UK). Please see our website for details. Subscriptions can be purchased only for the current or forthcoming volume. How do I get a copy of HTA on DVD? Please use the form on the HTA website (www.hta.ac.uk/htacd/index.shtml). HTA on DVD is currently free of charge worldwide. The website also provides information about the HTA programme and lists the membership of the various committees. Research (NIHR), was set up in 1993. It produces high-quality research information on the effectiveness, costs and broader impact of health technologies for those who use, manage and provide care in the NHS. 'Health technologies' are broadly defined as all interventions used to promote health, prevent and treat disease, and improve rehabilitation and long-term care. The research findings from the HTA programme directly influence decision-making bodies such as the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and the National Screening Committee (NSC). HTA findings also help to improve the quality of clinical practice in the NHS indirectly in that they form a key component of the 'National Knowledge Service'. The HTA programme is needs led in that it fills gaps in the evidence needed by the NHS. There are three routes to the start of projects. First is the commissioned route. Suggestions for research are actively sought from people working in the NHS, from the public and consumer groups and from professional bodies such as royal colleges and NHS trusts. These suggestions are carefully prioritised by panels of independent exper...

Evidence from the Global Burden of Disease studies suggests that osteoarthritis (OA) is a significant cause of disability globally; however, it is less clear how much of this burden exists in low-income and lower middle-income countries. This study aims to determine the prevalence of OA in people living in low-income and lower middle-income countries. Four electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL and Web of Science) were systematically searched from inception to October 2018 for population-based studies. We included studies reporting the prevalence of OA among people aged 15 years and over in low-income and lower middle-income countries. The prevalence estimates were pooled across studies using random effects meta-analysis. Our study was registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42018112870.The search identified 7414 articles, of which 356 articles were selected for full text assessment. 34 studies were eligible and included in the systematic review and meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence of OA was 16·05% (95% confidence interval (CI) 12·55–19·89), with studies demonstrating a substantial degree of heterogeneity (I2 = 99·50%). The pooled prevalence of OA was 16.4% (CI 11·60–21.78%) in South Asia, 15.7% (CI 5·31–30·25%) in East Asia and Pacific, and 14.2% (CI 7·95–21·89%) in Sub Saharan Africa. The meta-regression analysis showed that publication year, study sample size, risk of bias score and country-income categories were significantly associated with the variations in the prevalence estimates. The prevalence of OA is high in low-income and lower middle-income countries, with almost one in six of the study participants reported to have OA. With the changing population demographics and the shift to the emergence of non-communicable diseases, targeted public health strategies are urgently needed to address this growing epidemic in the aging population.