| Descriptive studies |
| Cost‐of‐
illness study |
None |
Description of all costs related to a disease. Policy information and basis for economic evaluation |
| Economic evaluations |
| Cost‐effectiveness analyses |
| Cost minimisation |
Not measured, as it assumes that
the effect of the alternatives
is identical |
Comparison of treatments within the same indication |
| Cost‐effectiveness |
Uni‐dimensional disease‐specific measure (eg, patients cured,
life‐years saved, disease‐free time) |
Comparison of treatments within the same indication |
| Cost utility |
Multidimensional outcome measure combining quality of life and life expectancy |
Comparison across indications |
| Cost–benefit analysis |
| Cost benefit |
Health benefit expressed in
monetary terms (eg, willingness
to pay) |
Comparison across different sectors of the economy |
