Presentation of economic evaluation results.

Abstract

In Thailand, economic evaluation results are being increasingly used for making health care resource allocation decisions. To assess the usefulness of economic evaluation information, users of studies such as policy decision makers or health care providers need to know whether the methods used in the study are appropriate and whether the results are valid. The quality of previous economic evaluation studies, however, was quite poor. The objectives of this article are to review the similarities and differences in reporting formats based on existing reporting formats suggested by published methodological guidelines for economic evaluation, and to provide recommendations for economic evaluation result presentation for Thai Health Technology Assessment guidelines. The article presents a recommended reporting format including ten key elements necessary for economic evaluation techniques. The recommended format will increase the transparency of studies as well as facilitate comparisons between studies. This may eventually lead to high-quality and reliable economic evaluation studies available for policy decision making in Thailand.