Abstract
BackgroundThe objective of this review is to provide a comprehensive overview of the different types of economic evaluations that can be utilized by Infection Prevention and Control practitioners with a particular focus on the use of the quality adjusted life year, and its associated challenges. We also highlight existing economic evaluations published within Infection Prevention and Control, research gaps and future directions.DesignNarrative Review.ConclusionsTo date the majority of economic evaluations within Infection Prevention and Control are considered partial economic evaluations. Acknowledging the challenges, which include variable utilities within infection prevention and control, a lack of randomized controlled trials, and difficulty in modelling infectious diseases in general, future economic evaluation studies should strive to be consistent with published guidelines for economic evaluations. This includes the use of quality adjusted life years. Further research is required to estimate utility scores of relevance within Infection Prevention and Control.
Highlights
The objective of this review is to provide a comprehensive overview of the different types of economic evaluations that can be utilized by Infection Prevention and Control practitioners with a particular focus on the use of the quality adjusted life year, and its associated challenges
There are numerous Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) interventions that can be utilized in hospitals to prevent Health-care associated infections (HAI) and their spread [5]
The authors determined which IPC strategy had the lowest cost per Quality Adjusted Life Year (QALY), and their conclusions contrast with the decisions that might be made when only considering the evaluation from the viewpoint of costs spent and saved [16]
Summary
The majority of economic evaluations in IPC are partial evaluations only considering costs. The utilization of the QALY is not without its difficulties This necessitates the use of more complex models and many of the necessary pieces of information, including utilities and time spent in particular health states lack reliable information within the realm of IPC. Despite these challenges, given that IPC interventions were designed to improve patient safety and quality of care it is appropriate to consider costs saved from the hospital standpoint during admission and the benefit to health through the use of QALYs. Future economic evaluations in the area of IPC interventions should aim to follow rigorous guidelines for economic evaluations and justify when they are not used.
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