Prioritizing risk factors to identify preventive interventions for economic assessment

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Economics
• Preventive Medicine

Background:

• Identifying effective preventive interventions is crucial for public health.
• Economic assessments, including cost-effectiveness analyses, guide resource allocation for interventions.
• Understanding risk factors contributing to disease burden and health inequalities is essential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a risk factor approach for prioritizing preventive interventions.
• To identify interventions requiring in-depth economic evaluation, such as cost-effectiveness analyses.
• To inform public health policy and resource allocation for maximum impact.

Main Methods:

• A three-step approach was used to identify and re-rank risk factors.
• Risk factors were ranked by their contribution to disability-adjusted life years (DALYs).
• Re-ranking considered the availability of effective preventive interventions and cost-effectiveness evidence, alongside contributions to health inequalities.

Main Results:

• Seven of the top 10 risk factors for New Zealand were also significant in the WHO Western Pacific Region.
• Priority risk factors include tobacco use, alcohol use, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, overweight/obesity, and physical inactivity.
• All identified risk factors contribute to health inequalities and have documented cost-saving preventive interventions.

Conclusions:

• The described risk factor prioritization approach is broadly applicable across countries.
• This method aids in identifying cost-effective interventions for immediate implementation, even without extensive economic analysis capacity.
• The approach supports evidence-based decision-making for preventive health strategies.