Earle C C, Coyle D, Evans W K
Cancer Care Ontario, Ottawa Regional Cancer Centre, University of Ottawa, Canada.
Ann Oncol. 1998 May;9(5):475-82. doi: 10.1023/a:1008292128615.
Physicians are faced with a burgeoning literature of economic studies. However, most physicians have little training in evaluating economic research. Economic studies involve a comparison of the costs and benefits of alternative treatment options. To be of use for medical decision making, they should meet appropriate methodological standards. These include clear specification of the research question and the perspective from which the study is being undertaken, comparison of relevant treatment options, identification and quantification of all important costs and benefits, the use of discounting to allow for time preferences for costs and benefits, and sensitivity analyses to test the robustness of the study's results. Unfortunately, not all adhere to these principles. Physicians need to be able to understand and critically assess the quality of economic studies, and the applicability of the results to their own situation, in order to participate in medical policy decisions.
医生们面临着数量迅速增长的经济学研究文献。然而，大多数医生在评估经济学研究方面几乎没有接受过培训。经济学研究涉及对替代治疗方案的成本和收益进行比较。为了用于医疗决策，它们应符合适当的方法标准。这些标准包括明确规定研究问题以及开展研究的视角、比较相关治疗方案、识别和量化所有重要的成本和收益、使用贴现来考虑成本和收益的时间偏好，以及进行敏感性分析以检验研究结果的稳健性。不幸的是，并非所有研究都遵循这些原则。为了参与医疗政策决策，医生需要能够理解并批判性地评估经济学研究的质量以及研究结果对自身情况的适用性。
