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Trends in paediatric health economic evaluation: 1980 to 1999
1Department of Population Health Sciences, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada.
Insights
Publication of paediatric economic evaluations has significantly increased, highlighting the need for robust health economic methods in child health to ensure quality resource allocation decisions.
Area of Science:
- Health Economics
- Pediatric Research
- Evidence-Based Medicine
Background:
- Standard economic evaluation methods have advanced, yet their application in pediatrics remains under-explored.
- The Paediatric Economic Database Evaluation (PEDE) Project was established to foster research in pediatric health economics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze trends in pediatric economic evaluations from 1980 to 1999.
- To identify shifts in publication volume, outcome categories, analytical techniques, and publication venues.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a comprehensive literature database from the PEDE project.
- Employed descriptive statistics to summarize trends in publication volume and study characteristics.
- Examined publication trends across different time periods, outcome categories, analytical methods, and journal types.
Main Results:
- A total of 787 pediatric economic evaluations were identified, with publication volume increasing substantially over the study period.
- Cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) was the predominant analytical technique, showing a significant increase in usage.
- Pediatric and perinatal medicine journals were the most common publication venues, with their proportion increasing over time.
Conclusions:
- The growing body of pediatric economic evaluations underscores the importance of applying health economic principles to pediatric populations.
- Ensuring high-quality resource allocation decisions in pediatrics requires continued attention to methodological rigor in economic evaluations.
Background:
Although standard methods for conducting economic evaluations have evolved, little attention has been paid to their application in paediatrics. The Paediatric Economic Database Evaluation (PEDE) Project was conceived to promote research into paediatric health economic methods.
Aim:
To examine trends in paediatric economic evaluation between 1980 and 1999.
Methods:
A comprehensive literature database created for the PEDE project was the source of the data. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise trends. Publication volume, study outcome category, analytical technique, and journal type were examined over the study period.
Results:
The literature search resulted in 787 full paediatric economic evaluations. The volume of publications increased from 61 to 440 citations per 5 year period. The most common health outcome category was cases of disease/condition/abnormality. Cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) was the most common technique used, accounting for a majority of evaluations in all time periods. The proportion of studies using CEA increased by 23 percentage points, while the proportion using cost-benefit analysis decreased from 31% in 1980-84 to 12% in 1995-99. Cost-utility analysis was the least common analytical technique. Publication in journals of paediatrics/perinatal medicine was the most common venue for all intervals and increased as a proportion of the total over time.
Conclusions:
The growth in publication of paediatric economic evaluations suggests that increasing attention should be paid to the application of health economic methods to a paediatric population to ensure high quality allocation decisions.
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