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.
S
- SustainabilityTermEnduring Capacity, Continued Viability
- The capacity of a health system or programme to be maintained long term without depleting resources needed to meet future needs.
- Sustainability EvaluationTermSustainability Assessment
- An assessment of whether the resource use of a programme can be maintained over time without compromising future capacity.
- Sustainable Development GoalsTermSDGs, UN Global Goals
- A set of seventeen interconnected global objectives adopted by UN member states, addressing social, economic, and environmental priorities including health.
- Sustained OutcomeTermLasting Outcome, Maintained Outcome
- A clinical or economic outcome that persists over an extended period following treatment, rather than a transient improvement that soon reverses.
- SWEMWBSConceptShort Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale, Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale, Short WEMWBS
- SWEMWBS, the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale, is a seven-item, Rasch-scored measure of positive mental wellbeing for programme evaluations.
- SwitchingTermTherapy Change, Product Change
- A general term for a change from one medication to another, whether for clinical reasons or non-clinical reasons such as a formulary change.
- SWOT AnalysisTermSWOT, Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats
- A strategic planning framework structuring an evaluation of internal strengths and weaknesses alongside external opportunities and threats.
- Symptom AssessmentTermSymptom Evaluation, Symptom Appraisal
- The systematic process of measuring the presence, frequency, and severity of disease-related symptoms, typically using standardised, validated instruments.
- Symptom BurdenTermSymptom Load, Overall Symptom Impact
- A measure of a disease's overall symptom impact on a patient, covering both the number and severity of symptoms experienced.
- Symptom FrequencyTermSymptom Rate, Symptom Occurrence
- A dimension of symptom assessment capturing how often a particular symptom occurs over a defined recall period, distinct from its severity.
- Symptom SeverityTermSymptom Intensity, Symptom Grade
- A dimension of symptom assessment capturing the intensity of a particular symptom when it occurs, distinct from how often it occurs.
- Symptom-Free SurvivalTermSymptom-Free Interval, Time to Symptom Onset
- A time-to-event measure defined as the time from treatment start until the onset or return of clinically significant symptoms.
- Symptomatic OutcomeTermSymptom-Based Outcome, Symptom Endpoint
- Any clinical outcome measure focused on the presence, frequency, or severity of disease-related symptoms, unlike survival, biomarker, or functional outcomes.
- Symptomatic ResponseTermSymptom Response, Symptom Improvement
- A measure indicating a clinically meaningful improvement in disease-related symptoms following treatment, defined using an established threshold for the relevant measure.
- Symptomatic TreatmentTermSymptom-Directed Treatment, Comfort-Oriented Treatment
- Treatment aimed at relieving a condition's symptoms without addressing its underlying cause, commonly used when no curative treatment is available.
- Synthetic ControlConceptSynthetic Comparator, Data-Derived Control
- Synthetic control estimates a health policy's effect on one region or provider using a weighted blend of untreated units that tracked it before the policy.
- Synthetic DataTermArtificial Data, Generated Data
- Artificially generated data statistically mimicking real data's properties without containing actual information from any real individual, protecting patient privacy.
- System AnalysisTermSystems Analysis, Health Systems Analysis
- An examination of how the financing, workforce and service delivery of a health system interact to produce population health outcomes.
- System Dynamics ModelConceptSD Model, System Dynamics Simulation
- A system dynamics model simulates a health system in aggregate as stocks, flows and feedback loops, projecting how policies play out over time.
- System EffectivenessTermOverall Effectiveness, Outcome Attainment
- A measure of the degree to which a health system achieves its goal of improving population health outcomes.
- System QualityTermOverall Care Quality, Organisational Quality
- The overall degree to which an entire health system achieves desired outcomes consistent with professional knowledge, delivered efficiently and equitably.
- System ResilienceTermSystem Robustness, Shock-Absorption Capacity
- A health system's capacity to prepare for, respond to, and recover from a significant shock, such as a disease outbreak, while continuing essential services.
- System SustainabilityTermSystemic Viability, Long-Run Affordability
- The capacity of a health system's financing, workforce, and infrastructure to be maintained long term without unsustainable debt or disruptive cuts.
- System TestingTermIntegrated Testing, End-to-End Testing
- A verification technique evaluating a complete model as an integrated whole, confirming all its components work together to produce sensible results.
- Systematic ErrorTermDirectional Error, Consistent Error
- A consistent, non-random deviation of results from the true value, arising from a specific flaw in design, measurement, or analysis.
- Systematic ReviewConceptSystematic Literature Review, SLR
- A systematic review finds, appraises and summarises all studies on a defined question using preset, reproducible methods, as evidence for HTA and models.
- Systematic Review HTATermHTA Systematic Review, HTA Evidence Review
- A systematic review conducted specifically to support a health technology assessment, focused on comparative clinical effectiveness and safety versus alternatives.