The influence of chronic and temporary accessibility on trust and policy support

Abstract

Food is very closely related to our everyday life and consumers are intolerable to food risk. The impact of media report on food risk perception has been addressed but more elaborated approach on consumers’ cognitive process of food risk perception via media is needed. Theoretically guided by accessibility theory, we examined the relationship between consumers’ perception of food risk (i.e. food schema), media use, media frame, trust, and policy support. Furthermore, anger was employed as a mediating variable influencing on trust and policy support. Results found that the level of media use had a significant positive effect on trust and policy support. Among the media frames, the government responsibility frame and corporate responsibility frame were shown to be negative predictors for trust and policy support. As for the food schema, checking schema was the most influential negative factor on trust and policy support. Anger was found to exert a negative effect on trust and policy support but this effect decreased if the level of trust was high. In terms of the relationship between media frames and the food schema on anger, most food schema reduced the strong positive effects of the media frame on anger. This means peoples’ anger induced by media frames can be diminished by individuals’ specific food schema. Both theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Economic evaluations in migraine: systematic literature review and a novel approach

Abstract

Background: For novel migraine therapies, economic evaluations will be required to understand the trade-offs between additional health benefit and additional cost. The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic literature review (SLR) to identify previous economic evaluations in migraine from the United Kingdom or Irish perspective to critically appraise these evaluations and to propose, if necessary, a novel modelling approach that can be used for future economic evaluations of migraine therapies.

Methods: An SLR was conducted to identify previous economic evaluations of preventive migraine treatments. Key opinion leaders were consulted to determine the criteria for a robust migraine economic evaluation. Economic evaluations identified in the SLR were appraised against these criteria, and a novel cost-effectiveness model structure was then proposed.

Results: Eight records reporting on published economic evaluations were identified and critically appraised for general quality. Expert consultation provided 6 recommendations on the ideal model structure for migraine that is both clinically and economically meaningful. A decision-tree plus Markov structure was then developed as a cost-effectiveness model for migraine therapies where each health state is associated with a patient distribution across monthly migraine day (MMD) frequencies.

Conclusions: Future migraine economic evaluations should allow for assessments across the full spectrum of migraine, a response-based stopping rule, and the estimation of benefits and resource costs based on MMD frequency. The approach proposed in this paper captures all of the desired elements for an economic evaluation of migraine therapy and is suitable to assess new migraine therapies.     

Coronavirus disease outbreak and supply chain disruption: Evidence from Taiwanese firms in China

This study applies an empirical analysis to examine whether supply chain disruption is caused by the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that was first reported in Wuhan, China, on December 31, 2019. The study’s findings indicate a link between the COVID-19 outbreak and the disruption of logistics and supply chains along with negative cumulative abnormal returns within Taiwanese firms manufacturing products in China and marketing them globally. This is the first study to examine the outbreak of the COVID-19 and the disruption of the supply chain and its effect on the stock market. The empirical results provide insights for business management in reconsidering their global supply chain strategies for the risk of disruption caused by similar epidemics occurs in the future.     

The short-term impact of smoke-free workplace laws on fatal heart attacks

Using data from across the US, we find that as the number of communities adopting smoking bans in workplaces in a state increases or an entire state goes smoke-free, there are significant reductions in fatal Myocardial Infarctions (MI) among those aged 25–54. The result proves durable, as we subject it to an extensive battery of robustness checks. These results are smaller in magnitude, however, than published case studies analysing the experiences of individual communities passing bans.     

Communicating with the public during health crises: experts' experiences and opinions

Governments and health agencies worldwide are planning for a potential influenza pandemic. Their plans acknowledge the importance of public communication during an outbreak and include related guidelines and strategies. Emerging infectious disease (EID) communication is a new addition to the literature, drawing on health promotion communication, crisis communication and environmental/technological risk communication. This paper adds to the literature, exploring the notion of ‘effective communication during health crises' by reporting on interviews with 22 public health officials, scientists and communications professionals responsible for communicating with the public. When analyzed in the context of the risk communication literature, the interviews reveal several considerations for health risk communicators. First, given the important role that mass media will play in an EID outbreak, there is an urgent need for public health to build partnerships with journalists based on an understanding of the two parties' unique societal roles. Second, seemingly practical communications considerations – such as how certain to be about information before sharing it and whether to engage in two‐way communication with the public – have ethical dimensions that deserve attention. Third, there are unique challenges associated with communicating uncertainty, which would benefit from an exploration of the role of trust in health crisis communication.     

Did public risk perspectives of mad cow disease reflect media representations and actual outcomes?

The first confirmed Canadian case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was reported to the general public on 20 May 2003 and received considerable media coverage. A random‐digit dialled telephone survey of 1207 people in Alberta, Canada, was conducted in spring 2007 to better understand public perspectives on the resulting economic concerns and effects on farming. Comparisons to other risk events and concerns about the overall risk were also examined. Respondents acknowledged BSE to be an economic risk, especially to cattle producers. Health risks were of little concern, especially in comparison to other relevant risk events such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and the BSE crisis in Britain. However, the risk of BSE was perceived as more dangerous should a domestically attributed case of variant Creutzfeldt‐Jakob disease (vCJD) (the human form of the disease) occur. The social amplification of risk framework (SARF) was extended to demonstrate that the discovery of BSE in Alberta led to neither an amplification nor attenuation of risk. Rather, risk management strategies employed in Alberta led to a mirroring of media representations and public perceptions of the risk. This unusual situation is in part due to the social and cultural context of the discovery of BSE in Alberta, including the history and pride of beef production in Alberta, how the risk was anchored, and a trust in government fostered by the media. This research also demonstrated how the application and interpretation of SARF is dependent on the comparative value used to assess whether amplification or attenuation has occurred.     

Resource Curse in Tourism Economies? An Investigation of China's World Cultural and Natural Heritage Sites

This paper empirically investigates the direct and indirect effects of tourism activity on economic growth in China's four major tourist cities with world cultural and natural heritage sites. Based on the resource curse hypothesis approach, we calculate the indirect effects of tourism on economic growth through four main transmission channels: Dutch disease effect, crowding out effect, price volatility and institutional quality. Empirical evidence from four major tourist cities from 2000 to 2010 suggests that heavy dependence on tourism resources appears to lead to Dutch disease effect; however, the effect is small and insignificant in the short term. The empirical results show that physical investment and human capital are important transmission channels through which tourism activity indirectly exerts more positive effects on economic growth. The prices volatility and economic openness play a positive but small and insignificant role in explaining tourism's indirect effect.     

An update to the cost-effectiveness of posaconazole vs fluconazole or itraconazole in the prevention of invasive fungal disease among neutropenic patients in the United States

Abstract

Objectives:

Posaconazole has shown superior clinical efficacy in the prevention of invasive fungal disease (IFD) among neutropenic patients as well as cost-effectiveness in the US healthcare setting vs fluconazole or itraconazole (FLU/ITRA) based on oral suspension formulations of each therapy. This study aims to provide an update on the cost-effectiveness of posaconazole in the current US healthcare setting to reflect bioequivalent tablet formulations of posaconazole and fluconazole, as well as changes in healthcare and drug costs.     

Cost-utility analysis of memantine extended release added to cholinesterase inhibitors compared to cholinesterase inhibitor monotherapy for the treatment of moderate-to-severe dementia of the Alzheimer’s type in the US

Abstract

Objective:

This study evaluates the cost-effectiveness of memantine extended release (ER) as an add-on therapy to acetylcholinesterase inhibitor (AChEI) [combination therapy] for treatment of patients with moderate-to-severe Alzheimer’s disease (AD) from both a healthcare payer and a societal perspective over 3 years when compared to AChEI monotherapy in the US.