Economic evaluation in stroke research : a systematic review.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The purpose of this review is to provide insight into the quality of economic evaluation in the field of cerebrovascular diseases (CVD) on the basis of a systematic analysis. METHODS A literature search was performed using several sources. Trial-based full economic evaluation studies, were included in this review. The quality of the studies was independently assessed by 2 reviewers using a checklist. RESULTS Twenty-three articles were found to comply with our inclusion and exclusion criteria. Only a few studies mentioned the perspective of the study, 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 instances 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 the domain of CVD. In most of the studies, the technical execution and methodology were limited.