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Table 2 Methodological characteristics of included studies

From: Costs and cost-effectiveness of community health workers: evidence from a literature review

Methodological area

Details of included studies

Study type

17 economic evaluations, often comparing CHWs with facility-based practice

5 articles looked at the costs and benefits of a single intervention or programme

10 articles included cost data only

Perspective

Provider or health system perspectives (n = 15)

Wider societal perspectives (n = 14)

Three studies did not specify the perspective taken

Time horizon

Only four studies included a time horizon greater than 1 year

The others (n = 28) either did not specify a time horizon or used 1 year

Sensitivity analysis

17 studies performed a sensitivity analysis, the majority (n = 10) using a one-way or univariate analysis

Variables used in the sensitivity analysis include the following: unit costs and quantities of provider and patient cost items, assumptions about training (varying the intensity, excluding one type of training and varying the cost of the training), varying discount and exchange rates, administrative support, useful life of capital items and effectiveness data, including CHW salaries, including inclusion of life years saved and deaths averted