Developing a fall prevention intervention economic model

Area of Science:

• Health economics
• Gerontology
• Public health

Background:

• Model-based economic evaluations are crucial for assessing healthcare interventions.
• Conceptualizing model structure is a critical first step.
• Fall prevention interventions require robust economic evaluation frameworks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify essential health states, events, and patient attributes for fall prevention cost-effectiveness analysis.
• To develop a model structure for evaluating fall prevention interventions.
• To assess the face validity of the developed model structure.

Main Methods:

• A modified Delphi process involving 11 experts from diverse fields.
• Two rounds of online surveys informed by literature search on fall prevention.
• Teleconferences to confirm face validity of the proposed model structure.

Main Results:

• Consensus reached on 14 health states/events and 26 patient characteristics.
• The final model structure incorporated 12 of the 14 selected health states/events.
• Expert panel confirmed the face validity of the model structure.

Conclusions:

• This study provides a transparent model conceptualization process for fall prevention economic evaluations.
• The modified Delphi approach facilitated consensus among diverse stakeholders.
• The developed model structure serves as a valuable case study for future economic modeling.