Presentation (CTI)

OBJECTIVES: ICEpop CAPability measure for Older people (ICECAP-O,2006) and Adults (ICECAP-A, 2012) are measures of capabilities that are recommended by NICE for evaluating social care interventions, and by ZIN in evaluation of interventions in long-term care. Despite the ability of these capability measures to capture broader aspects of well-being beyond those reflected in traditional QALY-based tools, their utilization in economic evaluations remain unclear. This review aims to identify studies using ICECAP-O and ICECAP-A within economic evaluations and summarize the key findings.
METHODS: A literature search was conducted in PubMed and Embase to identify studies reporting the use of ICECAP-A or ICECAP-O in full economic evaluations since database inception until June 2025.
RESULTS: A total of 12 studies were identified, of which five used ICECAP-A and seven used ICECAP-O across various disease areas, including CNS (seven studies), CVD (three studies) and musculoskeletal (two studies). Eleven studies were based in European countries (nine in UK and two in Netherlands). Four studies each conducted cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) and cost-utility analysis (CUA), three studies conducted cost-consequence analysis (CCA), and one study performed both CUA and CCA. ICECAP-A or O were used in conjunction with other measures, with EuroQol-5 Dimension (EQ-5D) being included in all identified studies. Nine studies provided a clear methodological approach for integrating ICECAP values into economic models, while the remaining three studies either used ICECAP outcomes descriptively or reported it without integration into economic evaluations.
CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that ICECAP-A and O instruments are infrequently employed, and when used, they are combined with QALY-based measures such as the EQ-5D in full economic evaluations. This pattern indicates complementary nature of capability and health-related quality of life measures, supporting a more comprehensive assessment of patient well-being within health economic evaluations. Their use as a standalone measure in economic evaluations has not yet been established.