Reporting Quality of Cost-Effectiveness Analyses Conducted in Saudi Arabia: A Systematic Review

Pharmacoeconomics and health economics in general is a new field that is still developing and emerging, not only in Saudi Arabia but all over the world. The objective of this study is to collect all published cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) studies conducted based on Saudi settings and to evaluate their reporting quality.

We used PRISMA guidelines to search for all English-language CEAs conducted in Saudi Arabia in 3 databases: Medline, Embase, and Scopus. Keywords used in the search were: cost-effectiveness, cost-benefit, cost-utility, economic evaluation, Saudi Arabia. The data extracted were analyzed to assess reporting quality based on Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Guidelines (CHEERS) and the second panel recommendations.

The 3 databases yielded 859 articles after removing duplicates. Only 7 articles included as final results following PRISMA guidelines. These 7 studies were published between 2015 and 2020. The CEA studies varied in their reporting quality; however, there were common missing required items among all of them, such as justifying choosing of a specific model and time horizon and reporting the ethical implications of the studied interventions.

Seven published CEA studies were conducted based on Saudi settings as revealed by this review. The included studies reported the more important aspects of CEA studies. However, there were missed reporting items based on the checklists we used to assess CEAs in this review. Although perfect and complete adherence to CHEERS or the second panel guidelines is a high standard, future CEAs should adhere to such standards. Transparency and good reporting are cornerstones in CEAs, and future CEAs should report their methods, findings, and results in a more transparent and efficient way.