Background: In health care the demand for evidence to inform practice has been increasing not only for evidence of clinical effectiveness but increasingly cost effectiveness. While the methods of reviewing evidence of clinical effectiveness are not without contention and debate, decades of work have resulted in considerable standardisation. Methods of reviewing the results of economic studies are at a far more developmental stage.

Objectives: The purpose of this presentation is to examine some of the approaches currently being proposed with regard to the identification, critical appraisal and synthesis of economic data. The Joanna Briggs Institute is currently developing software that incorporates some of these approaches. In particular the discussion will focus on methods of summarising the evidence from economic studies beyond a narrative summary.

Results: Although methods for the meta-analysis of economic data are still largely theoretical, systematic reviews of economic evaluations have and will be conducted. There will be considerable debate about which path is best to take. The use of a hierarchical decision matrix to summarise the results of multiple studies (adapted from Nixon, Khan and Kleijnen, 2001, BMJ;322;1596-1598) is being incorporated into the JBI software for preliminary testing.