Grutters Janneke P C, Bouttell Janet, Abrishami Payam, Ahmed Sulafa Y M, Cole Amanda, Dawoud Dalia, Fernández-Barceló Carla, Frederix Geert W J, Hawkins Neil, Karnon Jonathan, Leadbitter Sharon, McCabe Christopher, Mueller Jani, Achiaw Samuel Owusu, Partington Andrew, Sampietro-Colom Laura, Seyahian Abril, Sucu Rabia, Tew Michelle, van Katwyk Sasha, Verboven Yves, Wang Yi
Science Department IQ Health, https://ror.org/05wg1m734Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Centre for Healthcare Equipment and Technology Adoption, https://ror.org/05y3qh794Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Nottingham, UK.
Int J Technol Assess Health Care. 2025 Jun 2;41(1):e34. doi: 10.1017/S0266462325100123.
Although early health technology assessment (HTA) is increasingly being used to guide and inform decisions on product development, a consensus definition is currently lacking. A working group under the HTA International Society was established to develop a consensus-based definition of early HTA. The working group developed a definition using an iterative process that comprised five stages of work and included a two-round Delphi survey with 133 respondents in the first and 99 respondents in the second round of the survey, with various backgrounds and levels of expertise. Following this process, the working group reached the first consensus-based definition of early HTA, which is an HTA conducted to inform decisions about subsequent development, research, and/or investment by explicitly evaluating the potential value of a conceptual or actual health technology. In total, 86 (87 percent) of the 99 panelists who participated in the second round of the Delphi survey either strongly agreed or agreed with this definition. This consensus definition represents an important milestone in early HTA. It will enhance the uniformity of terminology, increasing the visibility of research and policy in this field. We also hope that it will act as a catalyst sparkling further research and developments in this discipline.
尽管早期卫生技术评估（HTA）越来越多地被用于指导产品开发决策并提供相关信息，但目前仍缺乏一个共识性定义。HTA国际协会成立了一个工作组，以制定基于共识的早期HTA定义。该工作组采用迭代过程制定了一个定义，该过程包括五个工作阶段，并进行了两轮德尔菲调查，第一轮有133名受访者，第二轮有99名受访者，他们具有不同背景和专业水平。经过这一过程，工作组达成了早期HTA的首个基于共识的定义，即通过明确评估概念性或实际卫生技术的潜在价值来为有关后续开发、研究和/或投资的决策提供信息的HTA。参与第二轮德尔菲调查的99名专家小组成员中，共有86名（87%）要么强烈同意要么同意这一定义。这一共识性定义是早期HTA的一个重要里程碑。它将提高术语的一致性，增加该领域研究和政策的关注度。我们还希望它将成为推动该学科进一步研究和发展的催化剂。
