Review of economic methods used in complementary medicine.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this research is to review the economic methods used in complementary medicine (CM).


METHODS
A comprehensive literature review was undertaken (1995-2007) to identify peer-reviewed articles related to economic methods used in CM.


RESULTS
The literature found 15 full economic evaluations of CM: 3 in the manipulative and body-based practices, 5 in the whole medical systems, and 7 in the biologically based practices. No evaluations were identified for the areas of mind-body medicine, alternative medical systems, or energy medicine. The review failed to locate any articles that used alternate economic methods such as contingent valuation or discrete choice modelling. The overall consensus from the 15 economic evaluations, despite variations in project design and methodological rigor, was that CM, as evaluated in these studies, was cost-effective compared to usual care.


CONCLUSIONS
As health care costs continue to rise, decision makers, both consumers and policymakers, must allocate scarce resources toward those treatments that offer the best value for the money. Considerable scope exists to advance the science behind CM through a more systematic integration of economic methods into CM research.
Doran
Christopher M
CM
National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Chang
Dennis H-T
DH
Kiat
Hosen
H
Bensoussan
Alan
A
D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000191:economics*; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000191:economics*; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D017048:Health Care Costs; D005102:Health Expenditures; D006801:Humans; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care