CG123 Common mental health disorders - National Institute for ...

Methods used to develop this guideline3.6.2 Inclusion criteria for economic studiesThe following inclusion criteria were applied to select studies identified by theeconomic searches for further consideration:● Only studies from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Developmentcountries were included because the aim of the review was to identify economicinformation transferable to the UK context.● Selection criteria based on types of clinical conditions and patients as well asinterventions assessed were identical to the clinical literature review.● Studies were included provided that sufficient details regarding methods andresults were available to enable the methodological quality of the study to beassessed, and provided that the study’s data and results were extractable. Posterpresentations of abstracts were excluded.● Full economic evaluations that compared two or more relevant options andconsidered both costs and consequences (that is, cost–consequence analysis, costeffectivenessanalysis, cost–utility analysis or cost–benefit analysis), as well ascosting analyses that compared only costs between two or more interventions,were included in the review.● Economic studies were included if they used clinical effectiveness data from anRCT, a prospective cohort study, or a systematic review and meta-analysis of clinicalstudies. Studies that had a mirror-image or other retrospective design wereexcluded from the review.● Studies were included only if the examined interventions were clearly described.This involved the dosage and route of administration and the duration of treatmentin the case of pharmacological therapies, and the types of health professionalsinvolved, as well as the frequency and duration of treatment in the case of psychologicalinterventions. Evaluations in which medications were treated as a classwere excluded from further consideration.● Studies that adopted a very narrow perspective, ignoring major categories of coststo the NHS, were excluded; for example, studies that estimated exclusively drugacquisition costs or hospitalisation costs were considered non-informative to theguideline development process.3.6.3 Applicability and quality criteria for economic studiesAll economic papers eligible for inclusion were appraised for their applicability andquality using the methodology checklist for economic evaluations recommended byNICE (2009d), which is shown in Appendix 9 of this guideline. The methodologychecklist for economic evaluations was also applied to the economic models developedspecifically for this guideline. All studies that fully or partially met the applicabilityand quality criteria described in the methodology checklist were considered during theguideline development process, along with the results of the economic modellingconducted specifically for this guideline. The completed methodology checklists forall economic evaluations considered in the guideline are provided in Appendix 12.54