title: Contributions from the systematic review of economic evaluations: the case of childhood hepatitis A vaccination in Brazil.
abstract: The aim of this study was to present the contributions of the systematic review of economic evaluations to the development of a national study on childhood hepatitis A vaccination. A literature review was performed in EMBASE, MEDLINE, WOPEC, HealthSTAR, SciELO and LILACS from 1995 to 2010. Most of the studies (8 of 10) showed favorable cost-effectiveness results. Sensitivity analysis indicated that the most important parameters for the results were cost of the vaccine, hepatitis A incidence, and medical costs of the disease. Variability was observed in methodological characteristics and estimates of key variables among the 10 studies reviewed. It is not possible to generalize results or transfer epidemiological estimates of resource utilization and costs associated with hepatitis A to the local context. Systematic review of economic evaluation studies of hepatitis A vaccine demonstrated the need for a national analysis and provided input for the development of a new decision-making model for Brazil.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Medicina Preventiva, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brasil. patricia.soarez@usp.br
authors.forename: Patrícia Coelho
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: De Soárez
authors.forename: Ana Marli Christovam
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Sartori
authors.forename: Andreia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Itria
authors.forename: Hillegonda Maria Dutilh
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Novaes
authors.forename: Celina Maria Turchi
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Martelli
mesh_terms: D001938:Brazil; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003657:Decision Making; D006291:Health Policy; D022362:Hepatitis A Vaccines / Q000191:economics* / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D017589:Immunization Programs / Q000191:economics* / Q000592:standards; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn
chemical_list: D022362:Hepatitis A Vaccines