Evidence based public health: A review of the experience of the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) of developing public health guidance in England
Abstract
This paper describes the application of the principles of evidence based medicine to public health. It recounts the experience of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence in England (NICE) which acquired a remit to develop public health guidance in 2005. Some of the history of the origins of the evidence based approach is described in the writings of Cochrane and others, and the way that this came to be a critical part of the NICE approach to developing clinical cost effectiveness is outlined. The challenge of applying these methods to an evidence base which is social and psychological as well as biomedical is considered. Key problems are identified: the breadth of the evidence base, different analytic levels of explanation, and the length of the causal chain between interventions and outcomes in public health.
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Within the behavioral sciences, reliable effect size estimates for constructs are more important to support evidence-based decisions.
“Within the behavioral sciences, reliable effect size estimates for constructs are more important to support evidence-based decisions [1].”
From Agile science: creating useful products for behavior change in the real world (2016) · cites this paper as [1]
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References 50 · Cited by 182
- Authors
- Kelly, M., Morgan, A., Ellis, S., Younger, T., Huntley, J., & Swann, C.
- Affiliations
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Kelly, Michael
- Venue
- Social Science & Medicine
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2010-09
- Volume
- 71
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 1056-1062
- ISSN
- 0277-9536 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2134074582
- Cited by
- 182
- References
- 50
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 21 · 2015: 15 · 2014: 17 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 10.97
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Social Science & Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- ResearchOnline (Glasgow Caledonian University) (acceptedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Clinical practice guidelines implementation
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Public Health Policies and Education
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Evaluation and Performance Assessment
- Keywords
- evidence-based public health, Nice, public health recommendations, evidence-based medicine, Cochrane Collaboration, cost-effectiveness, causal inference
- MeSH terms
- Cost-Benefit Analysis, England, Group Processes, Humans, Public Health Administration, State Medicine, Evidence-Based Medicine, Advisory Committees
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