A Review on Published Pharmacoeconomic Studies in Southeast Asian Countries

Objectives: This study concerned on an exploration regarding pharmacoeconomic studies in Southeast Asian countries from the published articles. Its aim was to describe the situation of pharmacoeconomic studies conducted in Southeast Asian countries from the published articles and explore a brief of the methodology applied in the studies. Methods: A literature search was conducted in September 2012 using the Medline electronic database with the PubMed interface. A combination of MeSH terms of ‘cost analysis’, ‘healthcare’, and ‘southeast asia’ was employed. Limitation was set for articles published at last 10 years in English language. Results: Out of 306 records, 83 eligible articles were retrieved and reviewed. It was found that the studies had been conducted in eight of eleven countries in the region and one study conducted in the region accros-country. Thailand had the greatest number of publications (34), followed by Singapore (17). the number of articles regarding economic evaluation of healthcare-related in Southeast Asian countries increased over the time. The capacity of local researchers both in number and the role as first/correspondence author were more than researchers from outside. Most of the authors were affiliated with the university and hospital. Most of studies that revealed the funding source got the funding support from international sources. Pharmacoeconomic study methods mostly used were COI and CA (65%), while there was also a consideration number of the use of CEA (13%) and CUA (17%) in the studies. From the studies reviewed, infectious diseases and chronic diseases were the most issues on pharmacoeconomic studies in Southeast Asian countries. Conclusions: A review was conducted on publications focusing on pharmacoeconomic studies in Southeast Asian countries. Pharmacoeconomic study is gaining importance in policy decision making for the particular setting in Southeast Asian countries. A consideration number of pharmacoeconomic studies in Southeast Asian countries gives possibility of using the economic evidence as well as the methodology to be used in other settings across the country.