Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS) statement

Area of Science:

• Health Economics
• Medical Research Reporting
• Publication Guidelines

Background:

• Reporting economic evaluations of health interventions presents significant challenges.
• Existing guidelines require consolidation and user-friendly updates.
• A survey of medical editors highlighted the need for improved reporting standards.

Purpose of the Study:

• To consolidate and update previous health economic evaluation guidelines.
• To provide current, useful reporting guidance for researchers, editors, and peer reviewers.
• To develop the Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS) statement.

Main Methods:

• A systematic review identified candidate items for reporting standards.
• A modified Delphi panel with diverse stakeholder representation was conducted.
• A 24-item checklist with recommendations was developed from 44 candidate items.

Main Results:

• The CHEERS statement comprises 24 recommendations for reporting health economic evaluations.
• A user-friendly checklist facilitates the application of the CHEERS statement.
• The statement is being co-published across multiple journals to promote adoption.

Conclusions:

• The CHEERS statement provides a consolidated and updated framework for reporting health economic evaluations.
• Improved reporting is expected to lead to enhanced health decision-making.
• The guidelines will be reviewed for future updates to ensure continued relevance.