title: A simplified cost-effectiveness model to guide decision-making for shortened anti-tuberculosis treatment regimens.
abstract: User-friendly models (UFMs) allow local decision makers to explore relationships and apply results from more detailed models of such outcomes as cost-effectiveness. When developing UFMs, modelers must decide which simplifications may be appropriate, enabling the UFM to retain accuracy while reducing complexity. We use the example of cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) for novel shortened anti-tuberculosis treatment regimens across four settings to demonstrate how UFMs can allow decision makers to adapt published results to their local context. We simplified a complex model to produce a UFM that provides similar results, the ability to modify key parameter values, and receive customized results in seconds.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zwerling
authors.affiliation: Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development and Department of Global Health, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Global Health and Development, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
authors.forename: G B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Gomez
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pennington
authors.affiliation: Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development and Department of Global Health, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation, The Hague, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cobelens
authors.affiliation: Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development and Department of Global Health, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Global Health and Development, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vassall
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Dowdy
mesh_terms: D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000191:economics*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003661:Decision Support Techniques; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D016527:Drug Costs; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D018803:Models, Economic; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D018579:Patient Selection; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000995:Antitubercular Agents