Assessing causality in drug policy analyses: How useful are the Bradford Hill criteria in analysing take-home naloxone programs?

The Bradford Hill criteria for assessing causality are useful in assembling evidence, including within complex policy analyses. In this paper, we argue that the implementation of take-home naloxone (THN) programs in Australia and elsewhere reflects sensible, evidence-based public health policy, desp...

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Main Authors: Olsen, A., Mcdonald, D., Lenton, Simon, Dietze, P.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2017
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/53965
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author Olsen, A.
Mcdonald, D.
Lenton, Simon
Dietze, P.
author_facet Olsen, A.
Mcdonald, D.
Lenton, Simon
Dietze, P.
author_sort Olsen, A.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The Bradford Hill criteria for assessing causality are useful in assembling evidence, including within complex policy analyses. In this paper, we argue that the implementation of take-home naloxone (THN) programs in Australia and elsewhere reflects sensible, evidence-based public health policy, despite the absence of randomised controlled trials. However, we also acknowledge that the debate around expanding access to THN would benefit from a careful consideration of causal inference and health policy impact of THN program implementation. Given the continued debate around expanding access to THN, and the relatively recent access to new data from implementation studies, two research groups independently conducted Bradford Hill analyses in order to carefully consider causal inference and health policy impact. Hill's criteria offer a useful analytical tool for interpreting current evidence on THN programs and making decisions about the (un)certainty of THN program safety and effectiveness.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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publishDate 2017
publisher Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-539652017-10-06T02:47:37Z Assessing causality in drug policy analyses: How useful are the Bradford Hill criteria in analysing take-home naloxone programs? Olsen, A. Mcdonald, D. Lenton, Simon Dietze, P. The Bradford Hill criteria for assessing causality are useful in assembling evidence, including within complex policy analyses. In this paper, we argue that the implementation of take-home naloxone (THN) programs in Australia and elsewhere reflects sensible, evidence-based public health policy, despite the absence of randomised controlled trials. However, we also acknowledge that the debate around expanding access to THN would benefit from a careful consideration of causal inference and health policy impact of THN program implementation. Given the continued debate around expanding access to THN, and the relatively recent access to new data from implementation studies, two research groups independently conducted Bradford Hill analyses in order to carefully consider causal inference and health policy impact. Hill's criteria offer a useful analytical tool for interpreting current evidence on THN programs and making decisions about the (un)certainty of THN program safety and effectiveness. 2017 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/53965 10.1111/dar.12523 Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd. restricted
spellingShingle Olsen, A.
Mcdonald, D.
Lenton, Simon
Dietze, P.
Assessing causality in drug policy analyses: How useful are the Bradford Hill criteria in analysing take-home naloxone programs?
title Assessing causality in drug policy analyses: How useful are the Bradford Hill criteria in analysing take-home naloxone programs?
title_full Assessing causality in drug policy analyses: How useful are the Bradford Hill criteria in analysing take-home naloxone programs?
title_fullStr Assessing causality in drug policy analyses: How useful are the Bradford Hill criteria in analysing take-home naloxone programs?
title_full_unstemmed Assessing causality in drug policy analyses: How useful are the Bradford Hill criteria in analysing take-home naloxone programs?
title_short Assessing causality in drug policy analyses: How useful are the Bradford Hill criteria in analysing take-home naloxone programs?
title_sort assessing causality in drug policy analyses: how useful are the bradford hill criteria in analysing take-home naloxone programs?
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/53965