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Unit of study_
PUBH5317: Advanced Economic and Decision Analysis
2025 unit information
This unit combines decision theory and more advanced health economic concepts to provide students with hands-on skills in specialised analysis methods, and modelling techniques, for evaluating healthcare options and reaching recommendations in the face of uncertainty. Students will calculate and analyse data from clinical studies, extrapolate clinical study results to other settings, and construct models that synthesise evidence from multiple sources. Specific topics of study include: decision trees; expected utility theory; sensitivity and threshold analysis; the value of information (including screening and diagnostic tests); the calculation and analysis of costs and quality-adjusted survival using individual patient data (including bootstrapping techniques); Markov processes and micro-simulation; extrapolation of time to event data for economic analysis and presenting and interpreting the results of (health economic) evaluations. Lectures are accompanied by practical exercises and readings. Students gain experience applying the methods presented in lectures via computer practicals using Excel, decision analysis software (TreeAge), and other packages.
Unit details and rules
Managing faculty or University school:
Medicine and Health
| Study level | Postgraduate |
|---|---|
| Academic unit | Public Health |
| Credit points | 6 |
|
Prerequisites:
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(PUBH5010 or CEPI5100 or BSTA5011) and (PUBH5018 or FMHU5002 or BSTA5002) |
|---|---|
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Corequisites:
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PUBH5312 |
| Prohibitions:
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PUBH5205 or PUBH5307 |
| Assumed knowledge:
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None |
At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:
- LO1. structure and analyse decision problems using a decision tree approach
- LO2. Incorporate diagnostic test information into decision trees
- LO3. perform sensitivity and threshold analysis
- LO4. apply decision analysis techniques to simplified health economic evaluations
- LO5. understand health-related utility assessment
- LO6. use Treeage software (to perform the tasks listed above)
- LO7. apply the use of survival (time to event analysis) in economic evaluation
- LO8. understand the implications of extrapolation using different survival models
- LO9. construct and analyse advanced health economic models using appropriate software
- LO10. conduct advanced sensitivity analyses on these models
- LO11. present results/reports of economic evaluations in written form in a way that is useful for policy makers.
Unit availability
This section lists the session, attendance modes and locations the unit is available in. There is a unit outline for each of the unit availabilities, which gives you information about the unit including assessment details and a schedule of weekly activities.
The outline is published 2 weeks before the first day of teaching. You can look at previous outlines for a guide to the details of a unit.
| Session | MoA ? | Location | Outline ? |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Semester 2 2025
|
Online | Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney |
Outline unavailable
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Modes of attendance (MoA)
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