Table 1 Main characteristics of the economic evaluation studies.
Characteristics | n (%) |
|---|---|
Study type | |
Cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) | 298 (62.5) |
Cost-minimization analysis (CMA) | 78 (16.4) |
Cost-utility analysis (CUA) | 73 (15.3) |
Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) | 28 (5.9) |
Health research activities | |
Prevention of disease and conditions, and promotion of well-being | 83 (17.4) |
Medically oriented (e.g. chemoprevention, vaccines) | 78 (16.4) |
Education/behaviour | 5 (1.0) |
Detection, screening and diagnosis | 53 (11.1) |
Screening | 48 (10.1) |
Resources and procedures | 5 (1.0) |
Treatments and therapeutic interventions | 334 (70.0) |
Medically oriented (e.g. pharmaceuticals) | 263 (55.1) |
Devices and procedures | 33 (6.9) |
Surgery | 28 (5.9) |
Education/behaviour | 10 (2.1) |
Rehabilitation | 7 (1.5) |
Methods | |
Decision analysis | 162 (34.0) |
Observational studies | 111 (23.3) |
Not explicit | 88 (18.4) |
Markov or other simulation models | 74 (15.5) |
Clinical trials | 42 (8.8) |
Perspective adopted | |
Healthcare system | 201 (42.1) |
Non explicit | 121 (25.4) |
Hospital | 93 (19.5) |
Society | 59 (12.4) |
Others | 3 (0.6) |
Costs | |
Direct | 404 (84.7) |
Direct and indirect | 73 (15.3) |
Cost information | |
Explicit | 359 (75.3) |
Non explicit | 118 (24.7) |
Funding source | |
Non explicit | 210 (44.0) |
For profit | 205 (43.0) |
Non for profit | 62 (13.0) |
Affiliation of the first author | |
Hospital | 243 (50.9) |
Private (e.g. consulting, pharmaceutical industry) | 99 (20.7) |
University | 56 (11.7) |
Administration | 55 (11.5) |
Primary care | 17 (3.6) |
Non explicit | 7 (1.5) |
Recommendations | |
Yes | 392 (82.2) |
No | 85 (17.8) |