Development and validation of a health policy simulation model for cardiovascular disease
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Project Leader
Professor Philip Clarke
Project Details
Our key aims are to develop computer simulation tools to assist with the evaluation of strategies to prevent and treat cardiovascular disease.
Project summary
The research is focused on evaluating policies associated with treating cardiovascular disease in Australia. It will involve the development of a computer simulation model for cardiovascular disease (CVD) which can be used for evaluating the cost-effectiveness of prevention and treatment interventions.
This aspect of the research will involve close collaboration with Prof Jackson based in Auckland University and take advantage of linked data containing information on all major cardiovascular risk factors and records containing hospitalisations and deaths in New Zealand. The project will also make use of a linked administrative health service data-set from Western Australia. The simulation model will be used to inform health policy in the field of cardiovascular disease in Australia.
As prices of cardiovascular therapies in Australia fall with the expiry of patents, how much more widely should cardiovascular medication be prescribed?
This is the type of question that can be answered through a CVD simulation model developed using contemporary costs and outcome data to determine the cost-effectiveness of these interventions in patients at different risk of the disease. Finally the contribution of CVD to health inequalities and scope for reducing gaps in life expectancy can be explored.
Researchers
Josh Knight
Collaborators
Professor Rod Jackson, University of Auckland
Professor Andrew Hayen, University of Technology, Sydney
Associate Professor Alison Hayes
Funding
NHMRC Project Grant 2015-18