title: A systematic review of modelling approaches in economic evaluations of health interventions for drug and alcohol problems.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The overarching goal of health policies is to maximize health and societal benefits. Economic evaluations can play a vital role in assessing whether or not such benefits occur. This paper reviews the application of modelling techniques in economic evaluations of drug and alcohol interventions with regard to (i) modelling paradigms themselves; (ii) perspectives of costs and benefits and (iii) time frame.
  
  
  METHODS
  Papers that use modelling approaches for economic evaluations of drug and alcohol interventions were identified by carrying out searches of major databases.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty eight papers met the inclusion criteria. Overall, the cohort Markov models remain the most popular approach, followed by decision trees, Individual based model and System dynamics model (SD). Most of the papers adopted a long term time frame to reflect the long term costs and benefits of health interventions. However, it was fairly common among the reviewed papers to adopt a narrow perspective that only takes into account costs and benefits borne by the health care sector.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This review paper informs policy makers about the availability of modelling techniques that can be used to enhance the quality of economic evaluations for drug and alcohol treatment interventions.
authors.affiliation: Drug Policy Modelling Program, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2031, Australia. v.hoang@unsw.edu.au.
authors.forename: Van Phuong
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Hoang
authors.affiliation: Drug Policy Modelling Program, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2031, Australia.
authors.forename: Marian
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shanahan
authors.affiliation: SMART Infrastructure Facility, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia.
authors.forename: Nagesh
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shukla
authors.affiliation: SMART Infrastructure Facility, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia.
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Perez
authors.affiliation: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2031, Australia.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Farrell
authors.affiliation: Drug Policy Modelling Program, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2031, Australia.
authors.forename: Alison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ritter
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000438:Alcohols; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003663:Decision Trees; D005260:Female; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018803:Models, Economic; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D013812:Therapeutics / Q000191:economics*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000438:Alcohols
keywords: Alcohol dependence; Drug dependence; Economic evaluation; Modelling; Substance abuse