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Catalá-López F, Ridao M, Tejedor-Romero L, Caulley L, Hutton B, Husereau D, Alonso-Arroyo A, Bernal-Delgado E, Drummond MF, Moher D. Transparency, openness, and reproducible research practices are frequently underused in health economic evaluations. J Clin Epidemiol 2024; 165:111208. [PMID: 37939742 DOI: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2023.10.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2023] [Revised: 10/15/2023] [Accepted: 10/31/2023] [Indexed: 11/10/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES To investigate the extent to which articles of economic evaluations of healthcare interventions indexed in MEDLINE incorporate research practices that promote transparency, openness, and reproducibility. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING We evaluated a random sample of health economic evaluations indexed in MEDLINE during 2019. We included articles written in English reporting an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio in terms of costs per life years gained, quality-adjusted life years, and/or disability-adjusted life years. Reproducible research practices, openness, and transparency in each article were extracted in duplicate. We explored whether reproducible research practices were associated with self-report use of a guideline. RESULTS We included 200 studies published in 147 journals. Almost half were published as open access articles (n = 93; 47%). Most studies (n = 150; 75%) were model-based economic evaluations. In 109 (55%) studies, authors self-reported use a guideline (e.g., for study conduct or reporting). Few studies (n = 31; 16%) reported working from a protocol. In 112 (56%) studies, authors reported the data needed to recreate the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio for the base case analysis. This percentage was higher in studies using a guideline than studies not using a guideline (72/109 [66%] with guideline vs. 40/91 [44%] without guideline; risk ratio 1.50, 95% confidence interval 1.15-1.97). Only 10 (5%) studies mentioned access to raw data and analytic code for reanalyses. CONCLUSION Transparency, openness, and reproducible research practices are frequently underused in health economic evaluations. This study provides baseline data to compare future progress in the field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ferrán Catalá-López
- Department of Health Planning and Economics, National School of Public Health, Institute of Health Carlos III, Madrid, Spain; Department of Medicine, University of Valencia/INCLIVA Health Research Institute and CIBERSAM, Valencia, Spain; Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI), Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
| | - Manuel Ridao
- Institute for Health Research in Aragon (IISA), Zaragoza, Spain; Data Science for Health Services and Policy Research, Aragon Health Sciences Institute (IACS), Zaragoza, Spain; Research Network on Chronicity, Primary Care, and Health Promotion (RICAPPS), Institute of Health Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Laura Tejedor-Romero
- Department of Health Planning and Economics, National School of Public Health, Institute of Health Carlos III, Madrid, Spain; Preventive Medicine Unit, La Princesa University Teaching Hospital, Madrid, Spain; Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacovigilance, Spanish Medicines and Healthcare Products Agency (AEMPS), Madrid, Spain
| | - Lisa Caulley
- Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI), Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Department, Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Department of Clinical Medicine and Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Brian Hutton
- Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI), Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; School of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| | - Don Husereau
- School of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Institute of Health Economics, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Adolfo Alonso-Arroyo
- Department of History of Science and Documentation, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain; Information and Social and Health Research (UISYS) Joint Research Unit, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
| | - Enrique Bernal-Delgado
- Data Science for Health Services and Policy Research, Aragon Health Sciences Institute (IACS), Zaragoza, Spain; Research Network on Chronicity, Primary Care, and Health Promotion (RICAPPS), Institute of Health Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | | | - David Moher
- Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI), Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; School of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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