ArticlePharmacoEconomics2019
A Need for Change! A Coding Framework for Improving Transparency in Decision Modeling.
Article in PharmacoEconomics, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
37 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A Systematic Review of Microsimulation Models in Cardiometabolic Disease: Model Calibration and Validation.Applied health economics and health policy · 2026Pooled it
- Software with artificial intelligence-derived algorithms for analysing CT brain scans in people with a suspected acute stroke: a systematic review and cost-effectiveness analysis.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2024Pooled it
- A conceptual framework linking health related costs of PFAS pollution to the polluter pays principle.iScience · 2026Article
- The Cost Utility of Rhythm Control Treatment Sequences in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation: Anti-arrhythmic Drugs Versus Catheter Ablation.PharmacoEconomics · 2026Article
- Infliximab Monotherapy Versus Infliximab and Azathioprine Combination Therapy in Patients with Ulcerative Colitis: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis.Digestive diseases and sciences · 2026Article
- Cost-effectiveness of early intervention in psychosis in Latin America: economic evaluation of Chilean services.BJPsych open · 2026Article
- A Modern Approach for Constructing Decision Analytic Models in Microsoft Excel.PharmacoEconomics · 2026Review
- Discrete-Event Simulation Modeling Framework for Cancer Interventions and Population Health in R (DESCIPHR): An Open-Source Pipeline.PharmacoEconomics · 2026Article
- Developing and Calibrating a Colorectal Cancer Microsimulation Model for Northern Ireland.PharmacoEconomics · 2026Article
- Cost-Effectiveness Modelling of Multiple System Atrophy for Early Health Technology Assessment.PharmacoEconomics - open · 2026Article
- Article
- Clinical benefit and cost effectiveness of adding life-time low-dose colchicine as secondary prevention following coronary artery bypass grafting surgery.American heart journal plus : cardiology research and practice · 2025Article
- Adopting life-cycle HTA: a tumor-agnostic precision oncology index economic evaluation from publicly available reimbursement reviews.International journal of technology assessment in health care · 2025Article
- Therapeutic Drug Monitoring in Patients with Ulcerative Colitis on Infliximab: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis.Digestive diseases and sciences · 2025Article
- Calculating the Expected Net Benefit of Sampling for Survival Data: A Tutorial and Case Study.Medical decision making : an international journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making · 2024Article
- Making Drug Approval Decisions in the Face of Uncertainty: Cumulative Evidence versus Value of Information.Medical decision making : an international journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making · 2024Article
- A structured process for the validation of a decision-analytic model: application to a cost-effectiveness model for risk-stratified national breast screening.Applied health economics and health policy · 2024Article
- Evaluating the Validation Process: Embracing Complexity and Transparency in Health Economic Modelling.PharmacoEconomics · 2024Article
- Barriers and Facilitators of Using R for Decision Analytic Modeling in Health Technology Assessment: Focus Group Results.PharmacoEconomics · 2024Article
- Introducing Open Science in Teaching Health Economic Modelling.PharmacoEconomics - open · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The use of open-source programming languages, such as R, in health decision sciences is growing and has the potential to facilitate model transparency, reproducibility, and shareability. However, realizing this potential can be challenging. Models are complex and primarily built to answer a research question, with model sharing and transparency relegated to being secondary goals. Consequently, code is often neither well documented nor systematically organized in a comprehensible and shareable approach. Moreover, many decision modelers are not formally trained in computer programming and may lack good coding practices, further compounding the problem of model transparency. To address these challenges, we propose a high-level framework for model-based decision and cost-effectiveness analyses (CEA) in R. The proposed framework consists of a conceptual, modular structure and coding recommendations for the implementation of model-based decision analyses in R. This framework defines a set of common decision model elements divided into five components: (1) model inputs, (2) decision model implementation, (3) model calibration, (4) model validation, and (5) analysis. The first four components form the model development phase. The analysis component is the application of the fully developed decision model to answer the policy or the research question of interest, assess decision uncertainty, and/or to determine the value of future research through value of information (VOI) analysis. In this framework, we also make recommendations for good coding practices specific to decision modeling, such as file organization and variable naming conventions. We showcase the framework through a fully functional, testbed decision model, which is hosted on GitHub for free download and easy adaptation to other applications. The use of this framework in decision modeling will improve code readability and model sharing, paving the way to an ideal, open-source world.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.