Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

We report on the result of a study aimed at assessing the variability of assumptions upon which economic models for the introduction of vaccination against Hepatitis B are based, the conclusions reached and define a minimum set of methodological standards upon which future economic studies on vaccines should be based. We identified 116 published and unpublished works by Medline literature searches, consulting private databases and corresponding with all authors and researchers active in economic evaluation of vaccines. All works were assessed but we included in our review only those which were original economic analyses (90 studies). Principal epidemiological and economic variables were extracted and compared where possible. Rough manipulations were carried out to make the data comparable. We found profound variability on the main parameters of the efficiency equation (disease incidence, costing methods, use of marginal theory, discounting and study timespan, sensitivity analysis and reporting methods). We also found inconsistencies in definition and study design in 38% of a subset of studies. Although we found scarce decision‐making impact, we believe that due to uncertain or unclear methodology, few studies reach valid conclusions. In future decisions may be based on biased evidence and scarce resources committed to untested programmes. There is an urgent need to standardise study methods and define a common set of procedures. Copyright © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Original publication

DOI

10.1002/hec.4730030105

Type

Journal article

Journal

Health Economics

Publication Date

01/01/1994

Volume

3

Pages

25 - 37