Prioritisation and trial design for cost effectiveness analysis

Economic evidence is becoming more fully integrated in the research cycle from pre-trial evidence synthesis, RCT justification and selection for funding (i.e. prioritisation), optimal design providing unbiased evidence on cost effectiveness to inform clinical decisions, through to analysis and extrapolation of RCT results to determine whether and where additional research is required. This theme aims to develop methods for the efficient use of trials of intervention efficiency, though collaboration between health economics, evidence synthesis, and biostatistics.

Methods for evidence synthesis and value of information analysis will be developed and applied to inform prioritisation and design of RCTs that account for: bias adjustment; missing data; multiple treatment options; patient populations/sub-groups; and multiple outcomes measures.

Once an RCT is funded, accurate and complete measurement of resource use and appropriate valuation is essential to provide valid evidence to inform policy. In ConDuCT-II we aim to improve the methodology of RCT resource use measurement and thereby cost-effectiveness analyses.

Theme 1 specific collaborators:

Database of Instruments for Resourse Use Measurement (DIRUM)