Table 3.
Key features of the analyses and the types of benefits included
| Feature | Total | % |
| Perspective | ||
| Societal/social | 23 | 19 |
| Healthcare provider/system | 19 | 16 |
| Payer | 12 | 10 |
| Other | 10 | 8 |
| Unclear | 60 | 48 |
| Discounting included | ||
| Yes | 47 | 40 |
| Not needed (time horizon under 1 year) | 27 | 23 |
| Unclear or not performed | 44 | 37 |
| Comparator type | ||
| Without the intervention/no intervention/doing nothing | 24 | 20 |
| Control group | 21 | 18 |
| Status quo/usual care/current practice | 19 | 16 |
| Baseline/preintervention | 18 | 15 |
| Deadweight | 8 | 7 |
| Unclear/no comparator | 28 | 24 |
| Appears to only look at fiscal/tangible cost savings | ||
| Yes | 70 | 59 |
| No | 48 | 41 |
| Valued health benefits | ||
| Yes | 48 | 41 |
| No | 70 | 59 |
| How the health benefits were being valued* | ||
| Productivity gains | 19 | 40 |
| Willingness to pay based metrics (including value per statistical life and the full-income approach) | 16 | 33 |
| Valuing DALY averted or QALYs gained† | 6 | 13 |
| Tax revenue | 3 | 6 |
| Other | 2 | 4 |
| Unclear | 11 | 23 |
| Included benefits other than monetised health gains and healthcare costs | ||
| Yes | 29 | 25 |
| No | 89 | 75 |
For studies where multiple categories applied, the study was counted in each. Therefore, some studies are counted more than once under particular features, and the percentage breakdowns do not always add up to 100%.
*Outlined further in online supplemental box 2.
†When relevant also counted under willingness to pay based metrics category.
DALY, disability-adjusted life year; QALY, quality-adjusted life year.