2 research outputs found
Economic analysis of the health impacts of housing improvement studies: a systematic review
Background: Economic evaluation of public policies
has been advocated but rarely performed. Studies from a
systematic review of the health impacts of housing
improvement included data on costs and some economic
analysis. Examination of these data provides an
opportunity to explore the difļ¬culties and the potential
for economic evaluation of housing.
Methods: Data were extracted from all studies included
in the systematic review of housing improvement which
had reported costs and economic analysis (n=29/45).
The reported data were assessed for their suitability to
economic evaluation. Where an economic analysis was
reported the analysis was described according to pre-set
deļ¬nitions of various types of economic analysis used in
the ļ¬eld of health economics.
Results: 25 studies reported cost data on the
intervention and/or beneļ¬ts to the recipients. Of these,
11 studies reported data which was considered
amenable to economic evaluation. A further four studies
reported conducting an economic evaluation. Three of
these studies presented a hybrid ābalance sheetā
approach and indicated a net economic beneļ¬t
associated with the intervention. One cost-effectiveness
evaluation was identiļ¬ed but the data were unclearly
reported; the cost-effectiveness plane suggested that the
intervention was more costly and less effective than the
status quo.
Conclusions: Future studies planning an economic
evaluation need to (i) make best use of available data
and (ii) ensure that all relevant data are collected. To
facilitate this, economic evaluations should be planned
alongside the intervention with input from health
economists from the outset of the study. When
undertaken appropriately, economic evaluation provides
the potential to make signiļ¬cant contributions to
housing policy