Contentual features: |
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■ Studies evaluating primary prevention activities targeted at cardiovascular event or risk reduction, i.e., prevention of the disease before it occurs for the first time; |
■ Objective: Screening for and modification of risk factors for primary cardiovascular events; |
■ Population: Persons at increased risk but without evidence of cardiovascular disease; |
■ Endpoints: Cardiovascular outcomes/events or modified risk factor; |
Formal features: |
■ Full economic evaluation, i.e., comparative analysis of costs and outcomes of at least two alternatives; |
■ Applied study (trial generating primary data or modelling of secondary data). Methodological and general articles, letters and abstracts were excluded; |
■ Assessment of, or application to the US, Canadian or European health care systems; |
■ Journal articles, i.e., exclusion of books, HTA reports, grey literature; |
■ Published between 1995–2005. |