Users' Guides: Economic Analysis
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Are the Results of the Study Valid?
What are the Results?
Will the Results Help in Caring for My Patients?

Are the Results of the Study Valid?

Did the analysis provide a full economic comparison of health care stragegies?

• Costs and outcomes for each strategy?
• Whose viewpoint?
• Cost-effectiveness/benefit/utility study?

Were the costs and outcomes properly measured and valued?

• Clinical effectiveness established?
• Costs measured accurately?
• Data on costs and outcomes appropriately integrated?

Was appropriate allowance made for uncertainties in the analysis?

• Sensitivity analysis?
• Statistical significance?

Are estimates of costs and outcomes related to the baseline risk in the treatment population?

• Sub-group analyses by risk?

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What are the Results?

What were the incremental costs and outcomes of each strategy?
Do incremental costs and outcomes differ between sub-groups?
How much does allowance for uncertainty change the results?

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Will the Results Help in Caring for My Patients?

Are the treatment benfits worth the harms and costs?

• Strong dominance?
• Weak dominace?
• Non-dominance?
• Incremental cost-effectiveness?

Could my patients expect similar health outcomes?

• Study patients similar to my patients?
• Study clinical management similar to my local practice?

Could I expect similar costs?

• Study/local resource consumption similar?
• Study/local prices similar?

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