From “Cost Analysis” to “Economic Evaluation”: An Integrative Review of Hospital Rehabilitation in Public Health

Abstract

The scientific literature on the use of economic evaluation studies in health was reviewed to identify the costs related to hospital rehabilitation in public health services and/or systems. An integrative review was carried out on the Virtual Health Library (VHL) portal. The search strategy was built by the hubs: economic evaluation (phenomenon); hospital rehabilitation (population); and public health (context). Portuguese, Spanish and English were the limit of languages used. Two independent reviewers selected the publications using the PRISMA protocol. Data analysis was performed using the thematic mode. 11 articles were included. The following elements of the articles were summarized: country, method, objective, main results, type of economic evaluation, type of hospital rehabilitation and the context of public health systems or services. Finally, it focused on the boundaries between “cost analysis” and “economic evaluation” that studies used. The evidence gathered in this review allows us to conclude that the topic is very incipient, with a low level of scientific evidence available (levels 4 and 5). The studies range from cost analysis to economic evaluations. All studies considered as economic evaluation are cost-effective and converge in stating that hospital rehabilitation is cost-effective in relation to the diseases studied in the various health systems analyzed.