MUSM Libraries: Evaluating an ECONOMIC ANALYSIS article
Validity issues | Types of cost analysis | Finding articles
Validity issues
Are the results valid?
- Did the analysis provide a full economic comparison of health care
strategies?
- Were the costs and outcomes properly measured and valued?
- Was appropriate allowance made for uncertainties in the
analysis?
- Are estimates of costs and outcomes related to the baseline risk in
the treatment population?
What are the results?
- What were the incremental costs and outcomes of each strategy?
- Do incremental costs and outcomes differ between subgroups?
- How much does allowance for uncertainty change the results?
Will the results help me in caring for my patient?
- Are the treatment benefits worth the harms and costs?
- Could my patients expect similar health outcomes?
- Could I expect similar costs?
Types of cost analysis
Economics is not just about money. It explores the balance
between costs and consequences of alternative actions.
A full economic comparison analyzes both the costs and
consequences of 2 or more alternative healthcare strategies. There are 3
types:
- Cost-Benefit Analysis compares the strategies' costs with
benefits expressed in monetary units.
- Cost-Effectiveness Analysis compares the strategies' costs
with their effects in clinical units (e.g. cost per life years gained).
- Cost-Utility Analysis is a type of cost-effectiveness analysis
in which outcomes are measured in terms of social value (e.g. cost per
quality-adjusted life years or QALY).
Direct Health Costs measure actual resources consumed to provide
healthcare.
Indirect Health Costs measure resource implications of
healthcare on other activities (e.g. lost wages).
Discounting permits a comparison of future costs and
consequences at today's value.
Finding articles about economic analysis
PubMed:
PubMed for
Handhelds (Memorial On-Campus/Remote One and Mercer On-Campus access)
PubMed for
Handhelds (Mercer Off-Campus access)
- SelectSearch MEDLINE/PubMed and use the Search with no
filters and enter your search term/s AND search: cost* OR economic
References:
From: Guyatt, G. Users' Guides to the Medical Literature: Essentials of
Evidence-based Clinical Practice. AMA Press, 2002 and Strauss.
Evidence-Based Medicine. How to Practice and Teach EBM.
Churchill-Livingstone, 3rd edition, 2005 (pocket cards).
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