Table 3.

Resource use data collection guidance.

Variables	Data collection guidance
Additional costs of treatment	This should be the costs of delivering the new treatment that are above and beyond a comparator treatment or usual care
Data collection to be considered for studies using a health care sector perspective a
Transport	Transport between hospital (e.g. transfer to a centre providing reperfusion) or from home, type of vehicle
Rehabilitation	Inpatient or outpatient rehabilitation, number of sessions, length of stay, specific services and procedures provided while in rehabilitation (e.g. assessment of impairment)
Hospital presentations	Number of presentations, type of presentation (e.g. emergency department or admission), dates or length of stay, specific services and procedures provided while in hospital (e.g. reperfusion)
Respite care	Number of times used, length of stay
Medications	Type of medications (e.g. antihypertensive medications), number of medications, dose, time on medication
Change in residence and living arrangements	Information to capture changes in residence as this is an indicator of independence that affects costs (e.g. costs of moving to an aged care facility may be applied)
Home modifications	Type of home modifications and out-of-pocket costs (e.g. for the installation of ramp to home)
Aids and equipment	Type of aids and equipment and out-of-pocket costs (e.g. for a walking frame)
Community services	Type of service, number of times provided and out-of-pocket costs
Family physician contacts	Number of contacts, other associated services (e.g. practice nurse) and out-of-pocket costs
Specialist contacts	Type of specialist, number of contacts and out-of-pocket costs
Private therapy	Type of therapy, number of contacts and out-of-pocket costs
Diagnostic tests	Type of tests, number of tests and out-of-pocket costs
Data collection to be considered for studies using a societal perspective
Employment/volunteer work	Type of work and hours, income and change since stroke
Carer employment/volunteer work	Type of work and hours, income and change since stroke
Household productivity	Type of activity and hours and change since stroke (e.g. cleaning, cooking, gardening, caring for family members)
Leisure time	Type of activity and hours and change since stroke
Additional items to consider
Clinical assessments at baseline	These should be clinical assessments that can be used to estimate costs (e.g. modified Rankin Scale)
Clinical outcomes after treatment	These should be clinical assessments that can be used to estimate costs (e.g. modified Rankin Scale)

^aCollecting data on the utilisation of health services can be labour intensive. Limiting data collection to certain categories of resource use and types of resources should be justified.