Activities Report 2022 / 2023
Public Health Rotterdam

Section

Health Technology Assessment & Implementation

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“With our strong focus on methodology of outcome measurement, quantification of costs and disease burden, and evaluation of interventions, our work is instrumental for the optimization of evidence-based care and prevention and sustainability of health care"

The Health Technology Assessment and Implementation section performs research that consists of a unique combination of health-economics, epidemiology, health outcome research and implementation research. The aim of our work is to simultaneously optimize health outcomes of patients by improving treatment, while containing or reducing healthcare costs. Three major pillars of our work are: a) improvement and application of methods to measure outcomes (patient reported outcomes (PROs), quality of life, burden of disease, costs and efficiency), b) to perform health technology assessment studies, and c) to study the implementation and evaluation of (preventive) interventions within health care. With our strong focus on methodology of outcome measurement, quantification of costs and disease burden, and evaluation of interventions, our work is instrumental for the optimization of evidence-based care and prevention and the sustainability of health care. Our primary areas of application are trauma and mental health and recently also COVID-19, post-COVID condition, Q-fever and rare diseases, such as Guillain-Barré syndrome. We collaborate with many clinical departments within the Erasmus MC, national and international institutes.

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Post COVID condition long term outcome study

Approximately 3 years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many persons who were infected with COVID-19 are still experiencing major problems. This is shown by a study by Erasmus MC, commissioned by C-support, among more than 10,000 patients who are living with post COVID condition. The study on the impact of post COVID condition covered various facets, such as health complaints, use of and satisfaction with health care, but also daily life, work situation and quality of life and mental well-being. The research shows that QVS patients suffer on average from eighteen physical complaints, with the top three being fatigue, concentration problems and decreased physical condition. This has major consequences for working life as well as leisure time. On average, patients living with a post COVID condition consulted 6 healthcare providers. This study highlights the enormous burden that a post COVID condition imposes on a patient’s life. The outcomes of our study may help improve healthcare, societal functioning and work status.

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The population health burden of injury in Europe

In Europe, one in every twenty deaths is due to injury. Insight into the occurrence and causes of injury are important input for priority-setting with regards to national injury prevention measures and their effects and health service planning. Our study investigated the occurrence and population health impact of injury across 44 European countries over a 20-year period. Our findings showed that in Eastern Europe, 80 individuals per 100,000 died from injuries; twice as high compared to Central Europe and almost three times as high compared to Western Europe. In Eastern Europe self-harm, road injuries and interpersonal violence contributed the most to the injury mortality rate. In Central and Western Europe, the causes of injury that contributed the most to the injury mortality rate were self-harm, road injuries, and falls. After 2005, the difference in population health burden of injury between the lowest- and the highest-ranking country   declining inequalities in the population health burden of injuries between European countries.

Section: Health Technology Assessment & Implementation