OBJECTIVES: The eHealth technologies are growing and have the potential to help older adults live independently, maintain their quality of life, and to reduce their health system dependency and economic burden. The objective of this study was to systematically review and critically appraise the methodological quality of economic evaluations, assessing eHealth technologies in older populations.

METHODS: A systematic literature search was carried out in PubMed and NHS Economic Evaluation Database (NHS EED) with relevant key words and included all relevant English articles published between January 2008 and May 2019. Studies characteristics, methods and outcomes were critically assessed. The quality of studies was assessed using the Consensus on Health Economic Criteria (CHEC) checklist.

RESULTS: Of 2177 identified articles, total 14 studies meet the inclusion criteria. The included studies reported the economic evaluations of eHealth technologies using telecare (n=5), telehealth (n=5), internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy (n=2), computerized decision support system (n=1), and a web-based physical activity intervention (n=1). The studies were conducted from the healthcare payer perspective (n=5), National Health Service (n=6), National health provider (n=2), and one study did not report the perspective of the study. Among all, only one study was funded by the pharmaceutical industry and all studies documented favorable cost effectiveness. The quality scoring of the studies ranged from 11 to 17. The study that used a state transition simulation modeling scored maximum 17 points. Overall, according to the CHEC score, the quality of the studies was sufficient.

CONCLUSIONS: Current review found a considerable number of studies that analyses economic evaluation scenario of eHealth technologies for older adults and the quality was found to be sufficient. Moreover, further long-term cost-effectiveness of eHealth technologies studies required from the health care system and societal perspectives to confirm the present findings.