Statistical Methods for Cost Research in Alcohol Studies

越来越有必要通过比较替代干预措施的成本价值（例如使用成本效益分析）来证明提供额外有效性的费用是合理的。虽然评估、解释和捍卫有效性证据的统计方法已经发展得很好，但评估成本的方法还不够完善。本研究的目的是促进成本评估方法作为成本效益分析的一部分，并将新方法应用于酒精治疗的临床研究。本提案的目的集中在解决可能破坏临床试验经济证据的政策相关性和可解释性的问题领域。这些问题领域是：(1)资源成本；(2)估算治疗增量费用；(3)在成本数据中考虑损耗；(4)估算样本量和成本效益的功率；(5)概括成本和结果信息。我们的方法是在这些领域取得进展，用NIAAA资助的临床试验来展示我们的新方法，用模拟来验证，然后传播。通过开发成本分析方法，我们的目标是提高基于试验数据的经济证据的政策相关性和可解释性。

Increasingly, it is necessary to justify the expense of providing additional effectiveness by comparing the value for the cost of alternative interventions (e.g. using cost-effectiveness analysis). While the statistical methodology for assessing, interpreting, and defending evidence of effectiveness is well developed, the methodology for the evaluation of costs is less so. The objective of this study is to advance the methods of evaluating costs as part of cost-effectiveness analysis and apply the new methods to clinical studies of alcohol treatments. The aims of this proposal focus on addressing problem areas that potentially undermine the policy relevance and interpretability of economic evidence derived from clinical trials. These problem areas are: (1) Resource costing; (2) Estimating incremental costs of treatment; (3) Accommodating attrition in cost data; (4) Estimating sample size and power for cost-effectiveness; and (5) Generalizing cost and outcome information. Our approach will be to develop advancements in these areas, demonstrate our new methods using an NIAAA funded clinical trial, validate using simulation, and then disseminate. By developing the methodology of cost analysis we aim to improve the policy relevance and interpretability of economic evidence in trial based data.