Department of Medical Information, University Hospital of Toulouse, Toulouse, F-31059, France.
Health Econ Rev. 2012 Sep 11;2(1):18. doi: 10.1186/2191-1991-2-18.
Cost-of-illness studies (COI) can identify and measure all the costs of a particular disease, including the direct, indirect and intangible dimensions. They are intended to provide estimates about the economic impact of costly disease. Alzheimer disease (AD) is a relevant example to review cost of illness studies because of its costliness.The aim of this study was to review relevant published cost studies of AD to analyze the method used and to identify which dimension had to be improved from a methodological perspective. First, we described the key points of cost study methodology. Secondly, cost studies relating to AD were systematically reviewed, focussing on an analysis of the different methods used. The methodological choices of the studies were analysed using an analytical grid which contains the main methodological items of COI studies. Seventeen articles were retained. Depending on the studies, annual total costs per patient vary from $2,935 to $52, 954. The methods, data sources, and estimated cost categories in each study varied widely. The review showed that cost studies adopted different approaches to estimate costs of AD, reflecting a lack of consensus on the methodology of cost studies. To increase its credibility, closer agreement among researchers on the methodological principles of cost studies would be desirable.
疾病经济负担研究（COI）可以识别和衡量特定疾病的所有成本，包括直接、间接和无形维度。它们旨在提供关于昂贵疾病的经济影响的估计。阿尔茨海默病（AD）是一个相关的例子，可以审查疾病经济负担研究，因为它的成本很高。本研究旨在审查 AD 的相关已发表的成本研究，以分析所使用的方法，并从方法论的角度确定需要改进的维度。首先，我们描述了成本研究方法的要点。其次，系统地审查了与 AD 相关的成本研究，重点分析了所使用的不同方法。使用包含 COI 研究主要方法学项目的分析网格分析了研究的方法学选择。保留了 17 篇文章。根据研究的不同，每位患者的年总成本从 2935 美元到 52954 美元不等。每项研究的方法、数据来源和估计成本类别差异很大。综述表明，成本研究采用了不同的方法来估计 AD 的成本，反映出对成本研究方法学缺乏共识。为了提高其可信度，研究人员之间更紧密地就成本研究的方法论原则达成一致是可取的。
