Economic evaluation in stroke research - A systematic review

Background and Purpose-The purpose of this review is to provide insight int o the quality of economic evaluation in the field of cerebrovascular diseas es (CVD) on the basis of a systematic analysis. Methods-A literature search was performed using several sources. Trial-base d full economic evaluation studies, were included in this review. The quali ty of the studies was independently assessed by 2 reviewers using a checkli st. Results-Twenty-three articles were found to comply with our inclusion and e xclusion criteria. Only a few studies mentioned the perspective of the stud y, and in these cases it was always the societal perspective. The majority of the studies were cost-minimization and cost-effectiveness analyses based on cohort studies. All studies included healthcare costs, and in some inst ances patient and family costs were considered. Costs were usually measured by tariffs. Clinical end points and mortality were used to measure effects . Cost and effect measurements were based on hospital records. Conclusions-Only a few full economic evaluations have been undertaken in th e domain of CVD. In most of the studies, the technical execution and method ology were limited.