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

3.6.4 Presentation of economic evidenceMethods used to develop this guidelineThe economic evidence considered in the guideline is provided in the respectiveevidence chapters, following presentation of the relevant clinical evidence. The referencesto included studies and the respective evidence tables with the study characteristicsand results are provided in Appendix 10. Methods and results of economicmodelling undertaken alongside the guideline development process are presented inthe relevant evidence chapters.3.6.5 Results of the systematic search of economic literatureThe titles of all studies identified by the systematic search of the literature werescreened for their relevance to the topic (that is, economic issues and information onHRQoL in people with common mental health disorders). References that were clearlynot relevant were excluded first. The abstracts of all potentially relevant studies (235references) were then assessed against the inclusion criteria for economic evaluationsby the health economist. Full texts of the studies potentially meeting the inclusioncriteria (including those for which eligibility was not clear from the abstract) wereobtained. Studies that did not meet the inclusion criteria, were duplicates, were secondarypublications of one study or had been updated in more recent publications weresubsequently excluded. Economic evaluations eligible for inclusion (that is, one studyon stepped care and one study on identification methods) were then appraised for theirapplicability and quality using the methodology checklist for economic evaluations. Ofthese, one economic study fully or partially met the applicability and quality criteriaand was considered at formulation of the guideline recommendations.3.7 FROM EVIDENCE TO RECOMMENDATIONSOnce the clinical and health economic evidence was summarised, the GDG draftedthe recommendations. The GDG took account of the principles of stepped-careapproaches when considering the evidence and formulating recommendations.In making recommendations, the GDG took into account the trade-off betweenthe benefits and downsides of the intervention/instrument, as well as other importantfactors such as economic considerations, values of the development group and society,the requirements to prevent discrimination and to promote equality 1 and thegroup’s awareness of practical issues (Eccles et al., 1998; NICE, 2009d).Finally, to show clearly how the GDG moved from the evidence to the recommendations,each chapter has a section called ‘From evidence to recommendations’.Underpinning this section is the concept of the ‘strength’ of a recommendation(Schünemann et al., 2003). This takes into account the quality of the evidence, but is1 See NICE’s equality scheme: www.nice.org.uk/aboutnice/howwework/NICEEquality Scheme.jsp55