Quality of Systematic Literature Reviews of Health Economic Models

OBJECTIVES: Economic models play a crucial role in the Health Technology Assessment (HTA) process. Certain HTA agencies prefer conducting a systematic review (SR) of health economic models during the submission process.

METHODS: The objective of this study was to examine the methodologies employed in SRs of health economic models. A rapid review (RR) was run in the Medline database. Single screening was conducted, with uncertainties addressed by a senior reviewer. Ultimately, 40 SRs of health economic models were selected, and data from these models were extracted focusing on the Population, Intervention, Comparator, and Outcome (PICO) criteria used by authors, the databases searched, the search strategy applied, details of the selection and extraction processes, and the tools used for quality assessment of economic models.

RESULTS: Approximately 70% of the analyzed SRs presented the PICO criteria. Most SRs comprehensively outlined the search strategy, with the majority searching in at least three databases. Almost all SRs thoroughly described the studies selection process, commonly involving a double screening for both abstracts and titles, as well as full texts. In nearly 90% of SRs, quality assessments of the included economic models were performed, often utilizing tools such as The Drummond Checklist, CHEERS checklist, CHEC list, and QHES checklist.

CONCLUSIONS: Although the methodologies in most of the analyzed SRs were generally well-described, more uniformity is needed. Future efforts should focus on refining the SRs methodology for economic models reviews to increase confidence among local and national decision-makers during the submission process.