title: [Economic evaluation of public health interventions].
abstract: The scarcity of resources available to meet the growing demand for healthcare services has increased interest in economic evaluation as a tool to inform resource allocation. The aim of economic evaluation is to compare various alternatives for action, in terms of their costs and effects on health, by using several techniques: cost minimization analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis, cost-utility analysis, and cost-benefit analysis. Irrespective of the methodology used, any assessment must include scope of the problem, selection of alternatives for comparison, explication of the perspective of analysis and the time horizon, measurement and evaluation of costs and health effects, presentation of results, and sensitivity analysis. In Spain, evaluation of currently ongoing preventive interventions, and adherence to the existing economic evaluation guidelines by researchers would be desirable.
authors: Agència d'Informació, Avaluació i Qualitat en Salut, Barcelona, España. agarciaaltes@aatrm.catsalut.cat
authors: Anna
authors: A
authors: García-Altés
authors: Encarna
authors: E
authors: Navas
authors: Ma Jesús
authors: MJ
authors: Soriano
mesh_terms: D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D006078:Government Programs / Q000191:economics*; D011314:Preventive Health Services / Q000191:economics* / Q000458:organization & administration; D015397:Program Evaluation / Q000379:methods*; D011634:Public Health / Q000191:economics*; D012107:Research Design; D040841:Resource Allocation; D013030:Spain; D013997:Time Factors