In some clinical trials, it can be important to compare
how much different treatments cost, as well as how well they
work. This can be particularly important when two (or more)
treatments are equally effective, but where one costs a lot more
than the other.
Organisations like the NHS National Institute for Health and
Clinical Excellence (NICE) need information about the costs of
new (or existing) treatments, as well as how well they
work.
The gathering of this information about costs is called health
economics. Health economic evaluation gives researchers and
policymakers a way to think about health benefits, and costs.
This enables them to try to get the best health gain for the most
people, within a limited budget.
For example, economic costs involved in treating cancer include
the cost of treatment, care and recovery, as well as the costs of
prevention, research and training of healthcare
personnel.
Other costs include the economic costs of illness and premature
death, the loss of economic productivity, decreases in the
productivity of family members, and welfare and health insurance
expenditure.
At the MRC Clinical Trials Unit, we work in partnership with the
Department of Health Economics at York University to:
- Assess plans for new trials and, where appropriate, to build in
an economic evaluation
- Develop the use of health economics to help prioritise
trials
- Look at information which has been collected about costs as
part of a clinical trial
- Develop research in economic evaluation
