Dictionary

S

Secondary Attack RateTermSAR, Household Attack Rate

A measure of infectious disease transmission, the proportion of susceptible close contacts of a primary case who themselves become infected.

Secondary CareTermSpecialist Care, Secondary Healthcare, Specialist Care Model, Specialist Delivery Model, Specialist-Led Care

Specialised medical care typically provided by a specialist following referral from primary care, between basic and highly specialised tertiary care.

Secondary Data AnalysisTermSecondary Analysis, Retrospective Data Analysis

The use of data originally collected for a purpose other than the current research question, such as insurance claims data used to study treatment patterns.

Secondary EndpointTermSecondary Outcome, Supportive Endpoint

An outcome measure assessed within a trial that provides supportive evidence about a treatment's effects, alongside the trial's primary endpoint.

Secondary PreventionTermEarly Detection Prevention, Secondary Prophylaxis

Preventive intervention aimed at detecting and treating disease early, before significant harm, unlike primary prevention's aim of stopping onset entirely.

Secondary ResearchConcept

Secondary research is research that summarises existing studies instead of collecting new data, as in systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Secondary Service AreaTermSecondary Catchment, Outer Service Area

A geographic area beyond a facility's primary service area from which it draws a smaller, still meaningful, patient proportion.

Security StandardsTermInformation Security Requirements, Data Protection Standards

The specific technical and administrative requirements governing how electronic health information must be protected from unauthorised access or loss.

Seed QuestionTermCalibration Question, Seed Variable

A question with a known true answer included in expert elicitation, used to assess and calibrate each expert's accuracy beforehand.

Seed ValueTermRandom Seed, Simulation Seed

A starting number supplied to a pseudo-random number generator that fixes the entire subsequent sequence it produces, allowing exact reproduction of results.

Segmented RegressionTermPiecewise Regression, Breakpoint Regression

A regression method that fits separate slopes to different segments of a series, used to estimate the effect of an interruption such as a policy change in interrupted time-series analysis.

SEIR ModelConceptSEIR Compartmental Model, Susceptible-Exposed-Infectious-Recovered Model

An extension of the basic epidemic model adding an exposed compartment for individuals infected but not yet infectious, before they become infectious.

Selection BiasTermSelection Effect, Sampling Bias

Bias arising when the individuals included in a study differ systematically from the broader population of interest, in ways linked to exposure and outcome.

Selection ModelConceptHeckman Correction, Sample Selection Correction

A missing data modelling approach explicitly modelling the process by which observations become missing, alongside the model for the outcome itself.

Selective ReportingTermSelective Analysis Reporting, Outcome Cherry-Picking

The practice of reporting only a subset of a study's originally planned outcomes or analyses, typically favouring those with significant or favourable results.

Self-Control ConceptConceptSelf-Control, Impulse Regulation, Willpower Concept, Willpower, Self-Regulation

The management of conflict between immediate incentives or effort and longer-term goals, especially when the timing of a choice changes what a person prefers to do.

Self-EfficacyTermPerceived Capability, Confidence to Act

An individual's belief in their own capacity to successfully perform actions needed to manage a specific situation, such as a chronic condition.

Self-Funded PlanTermSelf-Funded Health Plan, ASO Arrangement

An arrangement where an employer itself assumes financial risk for employee healthcare claims, rather than purchasing a fully insured policy.

Self-InsuranceTermSelf-Insured Arrangement, Own-Risk Retention

An arrangement where an organisation retains financial responsibility for its own risk, such as employee healthcare claims, rather than transferring it.

Self-ManagementTermSelf-Care, Patient-Led Care

A patient's active participation in the ongoing tasks needed to manage a chronic condition, including monitoring symptoms and adhering to treatment.

Self-Rated HealthTermSRH, Single-Item Health Rating

A single-item measure asking individuals to rate their own overall health, shown to independently predict future mortality and healthcare use.

Self-ReferralTermPhysician Financial Referral, Referral to Owned Facility

A situation where a physician refers a patient to a facility in which they have a financial interest, raising conflict of interest concerns.

Self-Reported HealthTermSelf-Report Health Data, Patient-Reported Health

Health status information provided directly by the patient rather than through clinical examination, ranging from a simple rating to detailed symptom questionnaires.

Semi-Fixed CostTermStep-Fixed Cost, Semi-Fixed Expense, Step Cost, Stepped Cost, Lumpy Cost

A cost that stays fixed within a certain range of activity but rises in discrete steps once a threshold is crossed.

Semi-Parametric AnalysisTermSemiparametric Model, Partially Parametric Analysis

A statistical approach combining parametric assumptions for some model components with non-parametric assumptions for others, exemplified by the Cox model.

Semi-Parametric SurvivalTermSemiparametric Survival Model, Cox-Type Model

A category of survival models, notably the Cox model, that assumes covariate effects parametrically while leaving the baseline hazard unspecified.

Semi-Variable CostTermMixed Cost, Semi-Variable Expense

A cost containing both a fixed and a variable component, such as a utility bill with a base charge plus a per-unit fee.

SensitivityConceptTrue Positive Rate, Recall

The proportion of people with a specified target condition who test positive at a stated diagnostic threshold, calculated as true positives divided by true positives plus false negatives.

Sensitivity AnalysisConceptSA, Robustness Analysis, Sensitivity Assessment, Model Sensitivity Check, Sensitivity Evaluation

Sensitivity analysis tests whether a health economic model's results and decision change when uncertain inputs, assumptions or model structure are varied.

Sensitivity Analysis for Missing DataTermMissing Data Sensitivity Analysis, Delta-Adjustment Analysis

Techniques assessing how much a study's conclusions might change under different, less favourable assumptions about missing data values.

Sensor AnalyticsTermSensor Data Analytics, Wearable Analytics

The application of data analysis to data generated by wearable or embedded health sensors, extracting insights from continuous monitoring.

Sensory FunctioningTermSensory Function, Sensory Domain

A health outcome domain capturing sensory capabilities, such as vision and hearing, which can be affected by disease or as a side effect of treatment.

Sentinel EventTermSentinel Incident, Serious Incident

An unexpected occurrence involving death or serious injury unrelated to a patient's underlying illness, occurring within a healthcare organisation.

Sentinel Event RateConceptSentinel Event Frequency, SE Rate

A sentinel event rate is the number of events meeting a specified serious patient-safety definition divided by a clearly defined population, activity, or exposure denominator during a stated period, usually expressed per a standard number of opportunities.

Separating EquilibriumTermSeparating Outcome, Self-Selection Equilibrium

A market outcome in which different risk types choose different options, revealing their true type to the other party in the transaction.

Sequence EffectTermOrder Effect, Treatment-Order Effect

In a crossover trial, a systematic difference in outcomes attributable to the order in which treatments were given, distinct from a carryover effect.

Sequential AnalysisConceptSequential Testing, Accumulating-Data Analysis

A statistical approach evaluating data as it accumulates, allowing early stopping once a predefined level of evidence is reached, rather than a fixed sample size.

Sequential Monte CarloConceptParticle Filtering, Recursive Bayesian Estimation

A class of algorithms, including particle filtering, estimating a sequence of unknown quantities over time by updating weighted samples as new data arrive.

Sequential SamplingTermSequential Data Collection, Adaptive Sampling

A data collection approach in which the decision to continue or stop sampling is made based on accumulating data, rather than a fixed sample size.

Sequential TherapyTermSequential Treatment, Step-Wise Therapy

A treatment approach in which different agents are administered one after another in a planned order, unlike simultaneous combination therapy.

Serial IntervalTermSerial Generation Interval, Case-to-Case Interval

The time between symptom onset in a primary infected case and symptom onset in the secondary cases that person infects.

Serious Adverse EventTermSAE

An untoward medical occurrence during research or treatment resulting in death, life-threatening risk, hospitalisation, or persistent significant disability, per international guidance.

Serious Reportable EventTermSRE, Reportable Safety Event

A formally catalogued category of serious, largely preventable safety events, such as wrong-site surgery, identified for standardised public reporting.

Serious Safety EventTermSSE, Serious Harm Event

A patient safety event causing significant harm, one of the more severe categories within a broader safety event hierarchy.

Service AreaTermCatchment Area, Facility Draw Area, Patient Origin, Patient Catchment, Origin of Patients

The defined geographic region from which a facility draws most of its patients, used in planning and regulatory determinations.

Service CoverageTermCoverage Breadth, Service Reach, Intervention Coverage, Intervention Reach, Coverage of Intervention

The proportion of a target population that receives a specific needed healthcare service, a building block of overall health system performance.

Service Delivery BlockTermService Delivery, Delivery Building Block

A core health system building block encompassing how interventions are organised and delivered to reach the population that needs them.

Service InnovationTermService Delivery Innovation, Care Delivery Innovation

An innovation introducing a new or substantially improved way of delivering a service, such as a care coordination model, rather than a clinical product.

Service LimitTermCoverage Cap, Service Frequency Limit

A restriction on the maximum number of times a specific service, such as physical therapy visits, will be covered within a period.

Service Line BudgetTermClinical Service Budget, Service-Line Budgeting

A budget allocated to a specific clinical service line, such as cardiology, covering its costs and expected revenues.