Impact of the 1997 Canadian guidelines on the conduct of Canadian-based economic evaluations in the published literature.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the impact of the 1997 Canadian guidelines on the methods and presentation of economic evaluations conducted from a Canadian perspective in the published literature.


METHODS
A systematic literature review was conducted to identify health technology economic evaluations conducted from a Canadian perspective published in peer-reviewed journals between 2001 and 2006. To investigate the impact of the 1997 Canadian Coordinating Office of Health Technology Assessment guidelines, each included study was assessed against 17 of the 25 recommendations.


RESULTS
Of the 153 included studies, a base set of 9 methodological standards, as outlined by the 1997 guidelines, were followed by over 50% of the studies including: indications, outcomes for cost utility analysis, outcomes for cost benefit analysis, discounting future cost and outcomes, cost identification and valuation, evaluating uncertainty and disclosing funding relationships. Main divergences from the guidelines were found for analytic technique (38%), study perspective (23%), source of preferences (8%), equity (7%), and cost measurement (24%).


CONCLUSIONS
The current assessment has shown that the 1997 Canadian guidelines have set a minimum methodological standard within the community of "doers" conducting economic analyses from a Canadian perspective. Although there was divergence from some of the recommendations, the majority were reflected as changes in the 2006 Canadian guidelines.
Lim
Morgan E
ME
Programs for Assessment of Technology in Health (PATH) Research Institute, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, Hamilton, ON, Canada. limme@mcmaster.ca
Bowen
James M
JM
O'Reilly
Daria
D
McCarron
C Elizabeth
CE
Blackhouse
Gord
G
Hopkins
Robert
R
Goeree
Ron
R
Tarride
Jean-Eric
JE
D015706:Bibliometrics; D020811:Biomedical Technology / Q000191:economics* / Q000592:standards; D002170:Canada; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D019983:Guideline Adherence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006801:Humans; D018156:Journalism, Medical / Q000592:standards*; D019057:Quality-Adjusted Life Years