Paul Scuffham

• PhD (Otago)
• Managing Director at Griffith University

Aim To estimate the burden of disease and evaluate which factors affect health care resource use (HCRU) in young children with cerebral palsy (CP). Method Data were collected as part of a prospective, longitudinal cohort study of children with CP born in Queensland, Australia between 2006 and 2009. HCRU questionnaires were administered at six time...

Background Public preferences are an important consideration for priority-setting. Critics suggest preferences of the public who are potentially naïve to the issue under consideration may lead to sub-optimal decisions. We assessed the impact of information and deliberation via a Citizens’ Jury (CJ) or preference elicitation methods (Discrete Choice...

Introduction The Dental Caries Utility Index (DCUI) is a new oral health–specific health state classification system for adolescents, consisting of 5 domains: pain/discomfort, difficulty eating food/drinking, worried, ability to participate in activities, and appearance. Each domain has 4 response levels. This study aims to generate an Australian-s...

Background: Data sharing presents new opportunities across the spectrum of research and is vital for science that is open, where data are easily discoverable, accessible, intelligible, reproducible, replicable and verifiable. Despite this, it is yet to become common practice. Global efforts to develop practical guidance for data sharing and open ac...

Background Internet-based parental programmes may improve parental wellbeing and mitigate the burden of mental health issues during the perinatal period. However, few studies have explored the cost and clinical impacts of such interventions. In the present study, we sought to evaluate the cost-effectiveness associated with an online cognitive behav...

Objective This study sought whether higher risk patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) benefit more from intensive disease management. Design Longitudinal cohort study. Setting State-wide public hospitals (Queensland, Australia). Participants This longitudinal study included 20 426 patients hospitalised in 2010 with CHD as the principal diag...

Objectives Preference-based quality-of-life measures (PBMs) have been developed in many clinical areas to aid estimation of more accurate utility values for economic evaluations. Existing oral health-related quality-of-life (OHRQoL) instruments are non-PBM and hence, cannot be used to generate utility values. The objective of this study was to deve...

Introduction: The Australian Gold Coast Integrated Care programme trialled an innovative model of care to proactively manage high risk patients with complex and chronic conditions in collaboration with general practitioners. The objective was to enhance coordination and continuity of care across primary and secondary health services from a single...

Background: Economic-evaluations of Cerebral palsy (CP) were based on utility estimates of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) from generic multi-attribute utility instruments (MAUIs). However, generic instruments had limited use as they could not capture some of the important aspects of living with CP. The Cerebral palsy 6 Dimension (CP-6D) is...

Research is driven by and a generator of large and diverse amounts of data. Despite this, a substantial gap between the evidence generated and that which is translated into practice or policy still exists. We propose that since the ability to translate knowledge is dependent upon access to and integrity of quality data and information, the importan...

Research Data Management (RDM) best practice is imperative to higher academic institutions involved in the development of training programs that support researchers. Therefore, understanding researcher RDM practices will help articulate planning strategies for services and support and highlight areas for future investment and development. This stud...

Background and Objective The CP-6D is a new preference-based measure derived from the CPQOL, a cerebral palsy-specific quality-of-life questionnaire. The CP-6D contains six dimensions, each with five levels. A preference-based value set is required to score the CP-6D on a utility scale and render it suitable for cost-utility analysis. This study ai...

Introduction A new health state classification system has been developed for dental caries - Dental Caries Utility Index (DCUI) to facilitate the assessment of oral health interventions in the cost-utility analysis (CUA). This paper reports the protocol for a valuation study, which aims to generate a preference-based algorithm for the classificatio...

Objectives In recent years, discrete choice experiments (DCEs) have become frequently used to generate utility values, but there are a diverse range of approaches to do this. The primary focus of this systematic review is to summarise the methods used for the design and analysis of DCEs when estimating utility values in both generic and condition-s...

A telemedicine program was established in two rural areas of Australia to provide remote guidance for exercise stress testing and Holter monitoring. The program was associated with an increase in the number of tests performed and a reduction in time from referral to test completion and reporting.

BACKGROUND New mothers and fathers face increased risks of emotional distress and relationship dissatisfaction. Digital interventions may increase access to support, but few preventive programs are optimised to support both parents. OBJECTIVE To conduct the first randomised controlled trial on a universal self-guided digital program to support pos...

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Purpose: Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) has broad application in the treatment of prostate cancer (PC) and is associated with numerous, debilitating adverse effects. Increasing use of ADT for PC, longer timeframe for treatment (increased uptake of PSA testing and earlier diagnosis), as well as improved survival and an ageing population, means...

Queensland is Australia's hotspot for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Critically, beyond modifiable lifestyle risk factors; socio-demographic differences and environmental factors account for significant variations in healthcare use and outcomes among cardiac patients across the country. To better understand the impacts of these factors on the health...

Background: The oral health of Indigenous children in remote communities is much worse than other population groups in Australia. Providing and maintaining an oral health service is challenging due to the remoteness of communities, the associated high cost, and the low retention of clinical staff. An annual preventive intervention delivered by fly...

Purpose: The Cerebral Palsy quality of life instrument is a well-known health-related quality of life measure for children with Cerebral Palsy. Due to its length it is not suitable as the basis of a preference-based instrument. The aim of this study is to develop a short version of the Cerebral Palsy quality of life instrument that can subsequently...

In this study, we apply the theoretical domains framework (TDF) and the COM-B model (capability, opportunity, motivation and behaviour) to identify data sharing behaviours (i.e. drivers and barriers) among researchers. These outcomes are used as an evidence-base to design strategies and interventions to address targeted behaviours. Data mapped onto...

Research Data Management (RDM) best practice is imperative to higher academic institutions involved in the development of training programs that support researchers. Therefore, understanding researcher RDM practices will help articulate planning strategies for services and support, and highlight areas for future investment and development. This stu...

It is well accepted that sharing data presents new opportunities across the spectrum of research and is vital towards science that is open; where data is easily accessible, intelligible, reproducible, replicable, and verifiable. Despite this, data sharing among researchers is yet to become common practice. Global efforts are underway to develop pra...

Introduction Cerebral palsy (CP) is a lifelong condition. The CP quality of life (CPQOL) instrument is a frequently used disease-specific instrument to assess health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in people with CP, but it cannot be used to generate quality-adjusted life years (QALY) which are the basis of cost utility analysis (CUA). Generic util...

When making funding decisions, research organisations largely consider the merits (e.g. scientific rigour and feasibility) of submitted research proposals; yet, there is often little or no reference to their value for money. This may be attributed to the challenges of assessing and integrating value of research into existing research prioritisation...

Objective Cancer of the oral cavity is the leading malignancy among males in Sri Lanka, and sixth among women. This study aimed to estimate costs of managing patients with oral cancer (OCA) in Sri Lanka for a 12 month period from diagnosis. Design Hospital based costing study. Settings Four selected cancer treatment centres in Sri Lanka. Partici...

Background: The potential impact of disease management to optimize quality of care, health outcomes and total healthcare costs across a range of cardiac disease states is unknown. Methods: A trial-based cost-utility analysis was conducted alongside a randomized controlled trial of 335 patients with chronic, non-valvular AF (without heart failure; t...

Background: Dental caries in children is a major public health problem worldwide, with a multitude of determinants acting upon children to different degrees in different communities. The objective of this study was to determine maternal, environmental, and intraoral indicators of dental caries experience in a sample of 6- to 7-y-old children in So...

Background: Combining supervised exercise training (ET) and disease management program (DMP) may benefit people with heart failure (HF) but will require additional resources. Objectives: To assess the 1-year cost-effectiveness of a 24-week ET program added to a post-discharge DMP in patients recently hospitalized with HF. Methods: Using random...

Background: Peaks and troughs in cardiovascular events correlated with seasonal change is well established from an epidemiological perspective but not a clinical one. Methods: Retrospective analysis of the recruitment, baseline characteristics and outcomes during minimum 12-month exposure to all four seasons in 1598 disease-management trial pati...

Background: Building or acquiring research data management (RDM) capacity is a major challenge for health and medical researchers and academic institutes alike. Considering that RDM practices influence the integrity and longevity of data, targeting RDM services and support in recognition of needs is especially valuable in health and medical resear...

Background: Indications for the use of negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) are broad and include prophylaxis for surgical site infections (SSIs). While existing evidence for the effectiveness of NPWT remains uncertain, new trials necessitated an updated review of the evidence for the effects of NPWT on postoperative wounds healing by primary cl...

Objectives Healthcare budgets are limited, and therefore, research funds should be wisely allocated to ensure high-quality, useful and cost-effective research. We aimed to critically review the criteria considered by major Australian organisations in prioritising and selecting health research projects for funding. Methods We reviewed all grant sch...

Purpose In order to create sustainable health systems, many countries are introducing ways to prioritise health services underpinned by a process of health technology assessment. While this approach requires technical judgements of clinical effectiveness and cost effectiveness, these are embedded in a wider set of social (societal) value judgement...

Aim To describe the relationship between emergency department (ED) diagnosis of infectious disease and immunisation status in children ≤5 years. We also aimed to demonstrate feasibility of proof‐of‐concept linkage between disparate databases. Methods Data from a cohort of 3404 children born in Southeast Queensland/Far North New South Wales between...

Aim: Clinical trials are vital to inform decision making and improve patient access to novel technologies; however, research budgets are limited, and therefore, resources should be allocated to trials that maximise return on investment. We aimed to prospectively assess the return on investment of a randomised controlled trial in prostate cancer....

Objective The aim of this study was to calculate the societal economic burden of shoulder pain in patients on the orthopaedic waiting list at an Australian public hospital and calculate the cost (from the government's perspective) of care delivered by the hospital for those patients.Methods A cost-of-illness analysis was undertaken in a cohort of 2...

It is well accepted that data sharing facilitates the progress of research and is vital towards science that is open; where data is easily accessible, intelligible, reproducible, replicable, and verifiable. Despite the extensive benefits of data sharing, it is yet to become common practice among health and medical researchers. Evidence-based interv...

Research data is a highly valuable resource, requiring much time and money to be produced and often having a significant value beyond its original use. Therefore, caring for research data is essential to its integrity. Research data management (RDM) is part of every research process and concerns the organisation of data, from its entry to the resea...

The adage coined in the 1992 presidential campaign “It’s all about the economy, stupid”, was to remind everyone that they should be focused on the plight of the working people and not get side tracked on other issues. The same could be said for research data management (RDM), it’s the researcher who should be the main focus! Building or acquiring...

Background Disease management programmes may improve quality of care, improve health outcomes and potentially reduce total healthcare costs. To date, only one very large population-based study has been undertaken and indicated reductions in hospital admissions > 10%. Objective We sought to confirm the effectiveness of population-based disease mana...

Objectives The aim of this study was to develop a validated model to predict current and future Australian costs for people with dementia to help guide decision makers allocate scarce resources in the presence of capacity constraints.Methods A hybrid discrete event simulation was developed to predict costs borne in Australia for people with dementi...

Conference Abstract: Building or acquiring research data management (RDM) capacity is a major challenge for health and medical researchers and academic institutes alike. Considering that different RDM practices can have direct influences on the integrity and longevity of data, optimising institutional services and support in recognition of RDM need...

Objectives In determining whether new health technologies should be funded, health technology assessment (HTA) committees prefer explicit to implicit methods of analysis in enhancing transparency and consistency of decision making. The aim of this study was to develop and pilot a multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) framework for the Queensland D...

Objective To identify the generic or disease-specific pediatric quality of life (QoL) instruments used in oral health research among children and adolescents and to provide an overview of these QoL instruments. Methods A systematic literature search was performed with multiple databases to identify the pediatric QoL instruments used in oral health...

The FDA approval of PD-1 and PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitors for multi-tumour listings in an important step in precision medicine and cancer management. However, this development is introducing several challenges to healthcare systems pertaining to the best way to assess value for money and subsidise these therapies. We believe that creative and non-tr...

Background: The latest review of studies on multimorbidity patterns showed high heterogeneity in the methodology for identifying groups of multimorbid conditions. However, it is unclear how analytical methods used influence the identified multimorbidity patterns. Methods: We undertook a systematic review of analytical methods used to identify mu...

Background It is important that guidelines and criteria used to prioritise access to bariatric surgery are informed by the values of the tax-paying public in combination with the expertise of healthcare professionals. Citizens’ juries are increasingly used around the world to engage the public in healthcare decision-making. This study investigated...

The spelling of the name of author K. Chalkidou was incorrect in the original article. It is correct here.

Background: To measure rates of parental-report of allergic disorders and ED presentations for allergic disorders in children, and to describe factors associated with either. Methods: An existing cohort of 3404 children born between 2006 and 2011 (Environments for Healthy Living) with prospectively collected pre-natal, perinatal and follow-up da...

In 2010, the Australian Government introduced the managed entry scheme (MES) to improve patient access to subsidised drugs on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and enhance the quality of evidence provided to decision makers. The aim of this paper was to critically review the Australian MES experience. We performed a comprehensive review of publicl...

Objectives: This study sought to measure the impact on all-cause death or readmission of adding center-based exercise training (ET) to disease management programs for patients with a recent acute heart failure (HF) hospitalization. Background: ET is recommended for patients with HF, but evidence is based mainly on ET as a single intervention in...

The present prospective study investigated a comprehensive model of family stress to explain changes in young children's diet quality from age 3 to 5 years. The direct associations of family stress with child diet quality were examined, as well as the indirect associations via features of the parent–child relationship, including inconsistent parent...

Purpose To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of BRCA testing in women with breast cancer, and cascade testing in family members of BRCA mutation carriers. Methods A cost-effectiveness analysis was conducted using a cohort Markov model from a health-payer perspective. The model estimated the long-term benefits and costs of testing women with breast c...

Purpose: Multi-attribute utility instruments (MAUIs) are widely used to measure utility weights. This study sought to compare utility weights of two popular MAUIs, the EQ-5D-3L and the SF-6D, and inform researchers in the selection of generic MAUI for use with cardiovascular (CVD) patients. Methods: Data were collected in the Young@Heart study,...

Objective The provision of healthcare services to inmates in correctional facilities is costly and resource-intensive. This study aimed to estimate the costs of transporting prisoners from 11 Queensland correctional facilities to the Princess Alexandra Hospital Secure Unit (PAHSU) in Brisbane for non-urgent specialist outpatient consultations and i...

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the cost-effectiveness of a long-term, nurse-led, multidisciplinary programme of home/clinic visits in preventing progressive cardiac dysfunction in patients at risk of developing de novo chronic heart failure (CHF). Methods: A trial-based analysis was conducted alongside a pragmatic, single-c...

Background: Making timely decisions on funding cancer drugs is challenging because of their high cost and uncertain evidence base when they enter the market. Various risk sharing arrangements (RSA) have been introduced to mitigate uncertainty and improve patient access to cancer drugs in Australia. Objectives: To examine the Pharmaceutical Benefit...

Background Several utility-based instruments have been applied in cost-utility analysis to assess health state values for people with dementia. Nevertheless, concerns and uncertainty regarding their performance for people with dementia have been raised. Objectives To assess the performance of available utility-based instruments for people with dem...

A better understanding of the public's preferences and what factors influence them is required if they are to be used to drive decision-making in health. This is particularly the case for service areas undergoing continual reform such as emergency and primary care. Accordingly, this study sought to determine if attitudes, socio-demographic characte...

Purpose: To estimate the health system costs of prostate cancer by disease risk category and treatment type over 2016 to 2025 and to identify potential strategies to contain the cost increase. Methods: A Markov cohort model was developed using clinical pathways from US prostate cancer guidelines and clinical expertise. Estimates of the probabili...

Background: The Coaching On Achieving Cardiovascular Health (COACH) Program has been proven to improve biomedical and lifestyle cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. The objective of this study was to evaluate the long-term impact of The COACH Program on overall survival, hospital utilization, and costs from the perspective of a private healt...

Objectives: To assess the usage of cost-utility analysis (CUA) in oral health interventions and to evaluate the methods used and the reporting quality of CUA in publications on oral health interventions. Methods: A systematic review was performed on literature published between 2000 and 2016 where cost-utility analyses of oral health interventio...

Introduction This study examined the effect of a telehealth intervention on the control of type 2 diabetes and subsequent potential cost-savings to the health system. Methods This prospective randomised controlled trial randomised adults with type 2 diabetes to the intervention (diabetes program) or control (usual care) arm. Key eligibility criter...

Background: The appropriate structure, scope and cost of government incentives in the private health insurance (PHI) market is a matter of ongoing debate. Objective: In order to inform policy decisions we designed a two-stage study to (1) model the uptake of PHI covering hospital treatment in Australia, and (2) identify the costs of various poli...

Objectives Cerebral palsy (CP) remains the world’s most common childhood physical disability with total annual costs of care and lost well-being of $A3.87b. The PREDICT-CP (NHMRC 1077257 Partnership Project: Comprehensive surveillance to PREDICT outcomes for school age children with CP) study will investigate the influence of brain structure, body...

Background The use of information technology, including internet- and telephone-based resources, is becoming an alternative and supporting method of providing many forms of services in a healthcare and health management setting. Telephone consultations provide a promising alternative and supporting service for face-to-face general practice care. Th...

Rationale: There is growing recognition that in addition to universally recognised domains and indicators of wellbeing (such as population health and life expectancy), additional frameworks are required to fully explain and measure Indigenous wellbeing. In particular, Indigenous Australian wellbeing is largely determined by colonisation, historica...

Aim: Infants under 12 months of age are disproportionately represented amongst emergency department (ED) presentations, and infants are more likely to be frequent ED users. This study aimed to describe and identify psychosocial predictors of ED presentation in infants. Methods: A prospective birth cohort from Queensland and New South Wales (Envi...

Objectives: The number of people in the developed world who have dementia is predicted to rise markedly. This study presents a validated predictive model to assist decision-makers to determine this population's future resource requirements and target scarce health and welfare resources appropriately. Methods: A novel individual patient discrete...

Introduction Approximately 35% of patients with cancer experience clinically significant distress, and unmet psychological supportive care needs are prevalent. This study describes the protocol for a randomised controlled trial (RCT) to assess the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of an internet-based psychological intervention for distressed patient...

Introduction Chronic diseases are the leading cause of illness, disability and death in Australia. The prevalence and associated health expenditure are projected to soar. There is no ‘whole system’ approach to healthcare in Australia. To overcome this fragmentation, the Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service (GCHHS) is developing a new model known...

Aims: To determine if an intensified form of heart failure management programme (INT-HF-MP) based on individual profiling is superior to standard management (SM) in reducing health care costs during 12-month follow-up (primary endpoint). Methods and results: A multicentre randomized trial involving 787 patients (full analysis set) discharged fro...

Objectives Quality-adjusted life-years are the common outcome measure in contemporary economic evaluations in health care. Due to the limitations of the sensitivity of the EQ-5D-3L in specific disease conditions, the EuroQoL group has developed a new EQ-5D-5L classification system with 3,125 health states. This study estimated the Sri Lankan value...

Background Limited evidence supports a possible association between a person’s perception of their weight status and their quality of life (QoL). This study evaluates whether misperception around weight status is associated with QoL and the impact of gender on this association. MethodsA cross-sectional survey of Australian adults (n = 1,905 analyse...

Aim: To estimate the cost-effectiveness of the Mitii training system for improvements in upper limb function for children with unilateral cerebral palsy (CP). Mitii is a web-based programme delivered at home with set-up and monitoring by therapists. Method: A randomized controlled trial was conducted comparing the Mitii training programme to usu...

Objective: The Work Outcomes Research Cost-benefit (WORC) project aimed to determine if early intervention for depression influenced workforce productivity in full-time employees. The current study aims to examine whether this intervention is cost-effective. Methods: A cost-benefit analysis of the WORC project from the employer's perspective was...

Background Hospitals are frequently faced with high levels of emergency department presentations and demand for inpatient care. An important contributing factor is the subset of patients with complex chronic diseases who have frequent and preventable exacerbations of their chronic diseases. Evidence suggests that some of these hospital readmissions...

Objectives: To empirically compare Markov cohort modeling (MM) and discrete event simulation (DES) with and without dynamic queuing (DQ) for cost-effectiveness (CE) analysis of a novel method of health services delivery where capacity constraints predominate. Methods: A common data-set comparing usual orthopedic care (UC) to an orthopedic physio...

Background: The uptake of bariatric surgery in Australia has been hampered by the lack of funding and lack of evidence on relative value for money. Objectives: To determine the cost-effectiveness of adjustable gastric banding (AGB), Roux-En-Y gastric bypass (RYGB), and sleeve gastrectomy (SG) versus usual care (UC). Setting: Perspective of the...

Background: The cost-effectiveness of a heart failure management intervention can be further informed by incorporating the expected benefits and costs of future survival. Methods: We compared the long-term costs per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained from home-based (HBI) versus specialist clinic-based intervention (CBI) among elderly pati...