Columbia Program in Decision Analysis for Chronic Disease Prevention
The Columbia Program in Decision Analysis for Chronic Disease Prevention applies data and methods from epidemiology, health services research, and health economics to answer practical clinical and public health questions, such as:
- Based on risk, benefit, and economic value, which patients should receive screening or diagnostic testing?
- What is the appropriate medical therapy, from the perspectives of patient, health care provider, and payer?
- What is the critical life period for chronic disease prevention?
- What is the optimal scope, intensity, and duration of population-wide, public health interventions for chronic disease prevention?
- How common, severe, and treatable must a genetic disease be to justify widespread screening in childhood?
Current, NIH-funded research projects include:
- The Young Adults Study
The Young Adults Study aims to estimate the potential health and economic value of early intervention in young adults to prevent later life cardiovascular disease. This project leverages a novel life course analysis of a large pooled data set of U.S. Observational cohort studies (the NHLBI Pooled Cohorts Study) in order to fill a knowledge gap that cannot be filled by short-term clinical trials.
- Model-Based Approach to Hypertension Control in Populations
This study is a computer simulation-based, comparative health economic analysis of approaches to improving hypertension control in the U.S. Population and three specific health systems in New York, Louisiana, and California.
- Optimize-SPRINT
Optimize-SPRINT is an ancillary study to the landmark Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT) that compared intensive versus standard blood pressure lowering treatment in high cardiovascular risk adults. Optimize-SPRINT will use predictive modeling and health economic methods to facilitate selection of optimal patients and population groups for intensive high blood pressure treatment.
- Cost-Effectiveness of Pharmacist-Led Hypertension Treatment in Black-Owned Barbershops: the BARBER Los Angeles Trial
The Barber-Pharmacist Coordination to Improve Blood Pressure Management in Black Men (BARBER) trial was a cluster-randomized trial of a pharmacist-delivered hypertension treatment intervention in 78 Los Angeles black-owned barbershops. Our team is tasked with the health economic analysis of the trial as well as advising on dissemination and implementation activities.
- Comparing the value of intensive systolic blood pressure treatment implementation strategies
study uses computer simulations to compare the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of implementing the intensive systolic blood pressure treatment goals from SPRINT in the national population as well as at the local level in four distinct health systems.
Other research funded by non-NIH extramural sources:
- Cost-effectiveness of out-of-office ambulatory blood pressure measurement for the diagnosis of sustained, white coat, and masked hypertension
Blood pressure measured in the doctor’s office may lead to incorrect diagnosis of hypertension, or lead to missed hypertension diagnosis. In this health economic, computer simulation study, we will draw on the best quality data gathered on ambulatory blood pressure in US adults to evaluate the incremental added value of measuring blood pressure outside the office using 24-hour, ambulatory blood pressure monitoring to improve hypertension diagnosis.
- Global Burden of Cardiovascular Diseases
Since 2008, the Columbia Program in Decision Analysis for Chronic Disease Prevention has collaborated with the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation to produce regular, high quality estimates of health loss due to fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular diseases in the U.S. and worldwide.
- Cost-effectiveness of a school-based, dietary salt reduction program in Malawi
In collaboration with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the University of Glasgow, we will conduct alongside trial and long term projection-based estimates of the health and economic value of a school-based program to lower dietary salt in adolescent school children in rural Malawi.