Methodological issues for economic evaluation in rheumatology
| Issue | Definition/question | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Model horizon | How long should costs and benefits be forecast? |
| 2. | Duration of treatment | What duration of treatment should be included in economic evaluations? |
| 3. | Extrapolation beyond trial duration | Can extrapolation beyond the duration of clinical trials be performed in a valid and reliable manner? |
| 4. | Modelling beyond trial duration | Can extrapolation beyond treatment duration be performed in a valid and reliable manner? |
| 5. | Synthesis of comparisons where clinical trials do not exist | Can comparisons be synthesised in a valid manner where experimental data are not available? |
| 6. | Outcome measures | What are the most meaningful clinical outcomes for economic evaluation? |
| 7. | Mortality | How should mortality be considered in economic analysis? |
| 8. | Valuation of health (e.g. QALYs) | What are the optimal sources of health state values? |
| 9. | Resource use | What are the optimal approaches to estimating resource use? |
| 10. | Classification and reporting of adverse events | What are the optimal approaches to measuring, classifying, and reporting toxicity? |
| 11. | Discontinuation of treatment | What are the optimal approaches to determining drug discontinuation and adherence rates? |
| 12. | Therapeutic strategies | Should data on therapeutic strategies (as opposed to individual treatments) be incorporated into economic evaluations? |
| 13. | Population risk stratification | What are the optimal approaches to incorporating data on the risk status of the population under study in economic evaluations? |