Mt Hood 2025 Challenge Session Overview
Preliminary Instructions
The instructions for the next Mt Hood challenge are being developed.
Mt Hood 2025 will focus on the use of simulation models in quantifying the benefits and cost-effectiveness of weight reduction interventions both in the people with diabetes and the wider population.
As the challenges are currently being developed, the information below is general information only. Updated information will be provided for those participating in the challenge.
If you have a diabetes simulation model and have not participated in an Mt Hood Challenge conference before, please email mthood2016@gmail.com so you can receive updates.
Challenges under development:
Challenge 1: Reference simulation
We will also ask groups to repeat the reference simulations for a standard patent that were in previous challenges and reported in the Mt Hood model registry. This will enable model simulations to be compared across time and across different models. Existing models that have been updates (in any way) or new simulation models should undertake the reference simulations (see registry for details). These reference simulations can be undertaken at any time and should be attempted before undertaking the challanges below.
Challenge 2: Simulating outcomes, costs and cost-effectiveness of weight reduction interventions in people with Type 2 diabetes
This will involve validation testing models using the Look AHEAD study and potentially other relevant data. The main focus of the challenge will be in quantifying estimates of the lifetime impacts of weight reduction interventions on lifetime outcomes such as life expectancy and QALYs and where possible on health care costs and cost-effectiveness. We will also assess what assumptions have the greatest influence on these outcomes.
Challenge 3: Simulating outcomes, costs and cost-effectiveness of weight reduction interventions in general population
A challenges is being developed for simulation models that predict the health and economic impacts of interventions such as lifestyle changes, pharmacological therapies, or surgical approaches aimed at reducing weight in the general population. The challenge will assess outcomes such as diabetes incidence, related complications, healthcare costs, and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) over a defined time horizon.
Challenge 4: Applying Mt Hood challenge approach to other disease simulation models
We are interested in working with health economics and other groups developing simulation models to apply the Mt Hood Challenge approach to compare models. We would welcome proposals for challenges that are could be undertaken by more than one modelling group.
If you have developed a simulation model and are interested in developing a challenge please email mthood2016[@]gmail.com with your proposals by end of January, please put "OTHER DISEASE CHALLENGE" in the subject line.
We expect challenge instructions to be finalized by March and groups participating in challenges for Mt Hood 2025 will need to submit all results by 14 June 2025, so these can be compiled for the conference program.
Previous challenge instructions
Below are the instructions for Challenge undertaken in 2022/23 and are intended as guide for what is required to participate in challenges 2 or 3. The publication reporting the results of this challenge can be found here.
Participation in publications arising from the meeting
In the past several groups participating in the conference have collaborated on a subsequent publication. Involvement in the publication process is on a voluntary basis and involves acceptance of the following principles:
i. No team can block publication of the paper except because of concerns related to scientific soundness — e.g., the data collection, analyses and presentation were done incorrectly.
Concerns related to policy, management, or scientific implications are not grounds for a co- author to block publication. If a majority of Team members believe the paper should be published based on sound science, the paper will move forward. Every reasonable effort should be made by the Leader and others to reach a consensus on moving forward with a publication.
ii. Teams may voluntarily remove themselves from the project, and from co-authorship, at any point if they no longer have time for the project or they disagree with some aspect of the project or paper. If a Team voluntarily leaves the project or is asked to leave because they
are opposed to the paper being published, the Team and Chair of Mt Hood Steering Committee will need to discuss with the dissenting member if his/her contributions can still be used, and perhaps described in the Acknowledgements, or if their contribution will have to be removed from the paper.
