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The Measurement of Indirect Costs in the Health Economics Evaluation Literature: A Review

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2009

Philip Jacobs  and
Konrad Fassbender
Philip Jacobs
Affiliation:
University of Alberta and Institute of PharmacoEconomics
Konrad Fassbender
Affiliation:
University of Alberta and Institute of PharmacoEconomics
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Abstract

In this paper we develop a framework to categorize the concepts used to estimate indirect costs in economic evaluation. We apply this framework in a literature review of economic evaluation studies. We searched all English language literature from 1994–1996. Following the application of a search algorithm, which yielded 25 articles, we abstracted information from these articles to determine the methods used to identify the relative contribution of indirect costs to the cost-effectiveness ratio, the time horizon selected by the authors, the identification of those activities that were foregone, the time given up by these activities, and the valuation placed on this time. These methods were then assessed. Indirect costs, as they have been measured, significantly influence efficiency ratios. A wide variation exists among studies in how they incorporate each of the components of indirect costs. All of the four components that were identified will affect the measurement of indirect cost. Future guidelines in this area should address the entire measurement process.

Keywords

CostCost analysisIndirect CostsEconomic Evaluation
Type
Research Note
Information
International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care , Volume 14 , Issue 4 , Fall 1998 , pp. 799 - 808
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1998

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