LAUSR

Introduction The continued advancement in blood pressure monitoring techniques for hypertension raises the economic concerns. This signifies the value and importance of high quality economic evaluations as a guide for an efficient allocation of scarce resources and making reimbursement decisions. Aim To assess different methods for the economic evaluation of blood pressure monitoring techniques in hypertension with their strengths and limitations and to suggest potential ways to improve the quality of economic evaluation in this field. Methods A critical literature review of methods used in economic evaluation in blood pressure monitoring techniques was done. A literature search was conducted in selected databases to identify the full economic evaluations, cost-analysis and cost-consequence analyses, earliest from 1990s to date. The quality assessment of the methods used was done based on the standard Drummond’s guidelines and Philip’s checklists. Results Eighteen unique peer reviewed economic evaluations were identified in blood pressure monitoring techniques. The most frequent type of economic evaluation was cost-effectiveness analysis from healthcare perspective and Markov cohort modelling. The quality of the methods used needs improvement in different areas, mainly the study design, valuation of cost and outcome and uncertainty analysis. Overall, results of economic evaluations are to be applied with caution to other settings. Conclusions There is a constant need to improve the magnitude and quality of economic evaluations in this health technology, especially for children, that should follow standard quality criteria. More and more economic evaluations need to focus on subgroups with increased risk for target organ damage to heart, kidney and brain, subsequent to hypertension. The care providers and policy makers need to give due consideration to the quality of these health economic evaluations in making evidence-based decisions for patients and society as a whole.