Table 1.

SPR standards for economic evaluation of prevention programs

Section and related standards
I. Standards for framing an economic evaluation
I.1. State the empirical question being addressed by the economic evaluation
I.2. Describe in detail the program being evaluated and its comparator
I.3. Describe the evaluation of the prevention program’s efficacy or effectiveness in terms of its impact on behavioral and other noneconomic outcomes
I.4. Determine and describe the perspectives from which analyses are conducted
I.5. Describe the time period and systems included and excluded in the evaluation
II. Standards for estimating costs of prevention programs
II.1. Plan cost analyses prospectively and then conduct them concurrently with program trials
II.2. Use an ingredients method in cost analysis
II.3. Describe comprehensively the units and resources needed to implement the intervention, disaggregated by time
II.4. Include resources consumed but not paid for directly
II.5. Resources needed to support program adoption, implementation, sustainability, and monitoring should be included in cost estimates
III. Standards for valuing effects of prevention programs
III.1. Estimate findings for each program outcome separately from benefit estimates and describe the context of the evaluation
III.2. Balance the rigor of direct valuation of outcomes with the validity of indirect valuation in contemporary society
III.3. Consider outcomes with negative monetary values as negative benefits rather than part of program costs
IV. Standards for summary metrics
IV.1. Estimate all costs and benefits in current monetary units or in monetary units for the most recent year available
IV.2. Estimate current values for benefits and costs that accrue over time by selecting and reporting a reputable discount rate
IV.3. Estimate and report the total, per-participant average, and marginal costs of the program
IV.4. When applying benefits across multiple outcomes to generate total economic values, avoid double counting of economic impact
IV.5. Use the net present value with a confidence interval as the principle summary metric of benefit-cost analyses
IV.6. Describe the advantages and limitations of any additional summary metrics that are included in the evaluation. Some metrics should be used only when certain conditions are met
V. Standards for handling estimate uncertainty
V.1. Test the uncertainty in estimates and report the manner in which it is handled
VI. Standards for reporting economic evaluations
VI.1. The principle of transparency should guide the reporting of economic evaluation results
VI.2. Use a two-step reporting process that summarizes the most essential features and results of an evaluation in a table or brief report and offers supporting technical detail elsewhere
VI.3. When Monte Carlo analysis is performed, present a histogram of the net present value distribution as well as the percentage of simulations that return a positive net present value

Corresponding description of each standard can be found within the text under the standard number