Table 3 Advantages and disadvantages of an economic approach
Method | Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|---|
Brief Economic Commentary (BEC) | Can be carried out by single health economics reviewer. Studies can be screened and data can be extracted by a single reviewer. | No formal critical appraisal. Conclusions presented at face value in authors of the economic evaluation’s own words. |
Integrated Full Systematic Review of Economic Evaluations (IFSREE) | Full critical appraisal given to each included study. Data extracted more granularly. More robust conclusion can be drawn | A minimum of two economic reviewers are needed to carry out the IFSREE. More analysis time needed to carry out extraction and quality assessment stages. |
Economic decision model | Can draw primary conclusions about decision problem using data from economic and clinical review about decision problem. | A minimum of two economic reviewers are needed to carry out the IFSREE. Can be time consuming depending on complexity of model structure. Can be limited by data availability to populate model. |