Decision analysis in animal health programs: Merits and limitations

Abstract This paper reviews decision analysis as a method in animal health management programs. Because there are many possible management approaches to the solution of animal health problems, decision analysis is useful in making choices and delineating between them. It is flexible, easily understood and helpful in situations where outcomes cannot be predicted with certainty. The main limitations of this technique are the time involved in using it and the uncertainty about decision criteria, as well as the difficulty in establishing the value of model inputs and outputs and in deriving probabilities. These limitations, particularly the uncertainty about the decision criteria, are discussed in detail using a hypothetical example.

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