Economic modeling and sensitivity analysis.
The field of pharmacoeconomics (PE) faces serious concerns of research credibility and bias. The failure of researchers to reproduce similar results in similar settings, the inappropriate use of clinical data in economic models, the lack of transparency, and the inability of readers to make meaningful comparisons across published studies have greatly contributed to skepticism about the validity, reliability, and relevance of these studies to healthcare decision-makers. Using a case study in the field of lipid PE, two suggestions are presented for generally applicable reporting standards that will improve the credibility of PE. Health economists and researchers should be expected to provide either the software used to create their PE model or a multivariate sensitivity analysis of their PE model. Software distribution would allow other users to validate the assumptions and calculations of a particular model and apply it to their own circumstances. Multivariate sensitivity analysis can also be used to present results in a consistent and meaningful way that will facilitate comparisons across the PE literature. Using these methods, broader acceptance and application of PE results by policy-makers would become possible. To reduce the uncertainty about what is being accomplished with PE studies, it is recommended that these guidelines become requirements of both scientific journals and healthcare plan decision-makers. The standardization of economic modeling in this manner will increase the acceptability of pharmacoeconomics as a practical, real-world science.
Hay
J W
JW
Department of Pharmaceutical Economics and Policy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA.