title: The difference in mean costs as a pharmacoeconomic outcome variable: power considerations.
abstract: The difference in mean costs between a placebo and a drug treated group is used for the pharmacoeconomic evaluation of a new drug. The distribution of costs without treatment (null hypothesis) is determined through hospital records. The sampling properties are established by simulation. The results of the simulation allow determination of a break point of differences corresponding to a given level of significance. For power determination, using this break point, clinical hypotheses are used to generate the distribution of costs under treatment (alternative hypothesis).
authors.affiliation: Institut de Statistique, Universite Catholique de Louvain, Belgium.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bouckaert
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Crott
mesh_terms: D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003953:Diagnosis-Related Groups; D004341:Drug Evaluation / Q000379:methods*; D004358:Drug Therapy / Q000191:economics*; D017722:Hospital Charges; D006801:Humans; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized; D017059:Models, Econometric; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000517:prevention & control