IDSI Methods Working Group Report: Evidence

Abstract

In the first phase of iDSI (2014-2016), Methods Working Groups were established to investigate three areas of economic evaluation for which additional methods guidance for analysts and policymakers in low- and middle-income countries was deemed particularly valuable. These linked directly to specific Principles for the practice of economic evaluation detailed in the iDSI Reference Case. This iDSI Methods Working Group report details the findings from the investigation to develop an analytical framework which can be used to assess the quality and relevance of any evidence – clinical and cost evidence, that are used in economic evaluations within a health technology assessment (HTA) in LMICs. This is linked to Principle 3: “An economic evaluation should consider all available evidence relevant to the decision problem”. The authors conclude that the majority of the existing tools have been designed to assess quality – i.e. internal validity of the studies, and whilst high-quality economic evaluations require top-quality and unbiased evidence, the relevance – external validity of the included evidence is also highly important. They propose a framework which takes a less prescriptive and more decision-centred approach to evidence assessment.