Dictionary
The Dictionary provides concise definitions of health economics terms, arranged alphabetically for quick reference. Use it to understand unfamiliar terminology or confirm the meaning of a specific term.
C
- Clinical Effectiveness Research
- Effectiveness research focused on clinical outcomes, such as symptom control or disease progression, observed under routine practice conditions.
- Clinical Risk Evaluation
- A risk evaluation focused on estimating a patient's probability of experiencing a specific clinical event, such as disease progression.
D
- Disease Progression
- An increase in tumour size or the appearance of new lesions during or after treatment, indicating the treatment no longer adequately controls the disease.
- Duration of Response
- The length of time between a patient first achieving a complete or partial response and the subsequent occurrence of disease progression or relapse.
F
- Functional Decline
- A reduction in ability to perform daily activities independently, often linked to ageing, chronic disease progression, or an acute health event.
L
- Lead Time Bias
- A bias in screening evaluations where earlier diagnosis appears to extend survival but only lengthens awareness of diagnosis, without delaying underlying disease progression.
P
- Prognostic Model
- A statistical or computational model predicting a patient's likely future clinical course, such as disease progression or survival probability.
- Progression-Free Survival
- A time-to-event measure defined as the time from treatment start until either disease progression or death from any cause, whichever occurs first.
S
- State Transition Model
- A general term for a decision-analytic model, such as a Markov model, representing disease progression as movement between defined health states.
T
- Time with Symptoms
- A phase within the Q-TWiST framework representing the period during which a patient experiences symptoms of disease progression or treatment toxicity.
- Time Without Symptoms of ProgressionTWiST
- A phase within the Q-TWiST framework covering the period free of significant treatment toxicity or disease progression symptoms, typically weighted highest.
- Time-to-Event
- Outcome data recording the duration until a specific event of interest occurs, such as disease progression or death, possibly censored.
- Treatment Failure
- A clinical outcome indicating a treatment did not achieve its intended goal, whether shown by lack of improvement, disease progression, or a therapy switch.