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 1Â 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 |