This PhD thesis is rootcd in a mnltidisciplinary project, ca lied Technology Assessment lvlethods (TAM). The (ambitious) aim of the TAM project was to develop a comprehcllsive method of evalnating medical tcchnology in the perspective of multiple risk factors, multiple diseascs and multiple causes of death (Bonneux & Bai'endregt, 1991). Thc project was an attempt to bettel' llllderstand the dynamics of populatioll health status, in particnlar in relation to medical intervclltions, but it was "lso lllotivated by thc rapidly rising health care costs of the past decades, whieh fueled the feal' that ever expanding casts might become economically unsllstainahle in the future (van der Maas & Habbema, 1986). The TAM project would provide a better lUlderstanding of the consequcllces for beth casts and popt!lation hcalth status of a \\Vide array of preventivc aud therapeutic health care interventions, and through that offer the tools for policy makers to huy the better investments in health with a sustaillahle health carc budget. Two factors arc commanly held responsible for the increase in health care costs: aging and health care technology.

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Netherlands Heart Foundation, Dutch Ministry of Health, Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO)
P.J. van der Maas (Paul)
Erasmus University Rotterdam
hdl.handle.net/1765/16984
Erasmus MC: University Medical Center Rotterdam

Barendregt, J., & Bonneux, L. (1998, January 14). Degenerative Disease in an Aging Population Models and Conjectures. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/1765/16984