TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS - EMERGING ISSUES IN DESIGNING ECONOMIC EVALUATIONS ALONGSIDE CLINICAL-TRIALS

Decisions relating to designing and implementing economic evaluations alongside clinical trials are dependent on a number of issues. Initial consideration should focus on whether an economic evaluation is appro priate, whether a randomized controlled trial (RCT) is a suitable vehi cle, and whether the design of the specific RCT is appropriate for int egration of economic evaluation. If an economic evaluation is appropri ate, decisions are required on how economic data are to be collected a nd analyzed. This paper discusses these and other issues and, where ap propriate, provides recommendations for future studies.