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Medical Decision Making pp 83–97Cite as

Treatment Decisions Under Comorbidity Risk

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Abstract

This chapter introduces the role of uncontrollable risks such as comorbidity for the physician’s decisions. With this kind of risk underlying his test and treatment decisions, the concept of prudence becomes relevant. We demonstrate that prudent decision makers act even earlier than simply risk averse ones.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Kimball, M. – Precautionary Saving in the Small and in the Large – Econometrica, 58(1): 53–73, 1990, p. 54.

  2. 2.

    Prudence is in principle also compatible with risk loving, though not with risk neutrality.

  3. 3.

    A further case – not discussed here – is that the decision maker is risk loving \( \left( {U^{\prime\prime} > 0} \right) \) and, depending on the third derivative of his utility function, also either prudent or imprudent.

  4. 4.

    The test and treatment thresholds can be found by setting the value of information in the two arms of (6.14) equal to zero and solving for p.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Business and Economics Department of Health Economics, University of Basel, Peter Merian-Weg 6, 4002, Basel, Switzerland

    Professor Dr. Stefan Felder

  2. Department of Business Administration and Economics Chair of Health Economics, University of Duisburg-Essen, Schützenbahn 70, 45117, Essen, Germany

    Dipl. Vw. Thomas Mayrhofer

Authors
  1. Professor Dr. Stefan Felder
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  2. Dipl. Vw. Thomas Mayrhofer
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Correspondence to Stefan Felder .

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© 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Felder, S., Mayrhofer, T. (2011). Treatment Decisions Under Comorbidity Risk. In: Medical Decision Making. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-18330-0_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-18330-0_6

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-18329-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-18330-0

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