Journal Article

Economic Studies on Non-Communicable Diseases and Injuries in India: A Systematic Review

Roy, Arjun, Gupta, Indrani

2018

Overview

Background The burden from non-communicable diseases and injuries (NCDI) in India is increasing rapidly. With low public sector investment in the health sector generally, and a high financial burden on households for treatment, it is important that economic evidence is used to set priorities in the context of NCDI. Objective Our objective was to understand the extent to which economic analysis has been used in India to (1) analyze the impact of NCDI and (2) evaluate prevention and treatment interventions. Specifically, this analysis focused on the type of economic analysis used, disease categories, funding patterns, authorship, and author characteristics. Methods We conducted a systematic review based on economic keywords to identify studies on NCDI in India published in English between January 2006 and November 2016. In all, 96 studies were included in the review. The analysis used descriptive statistics, including frequencies and percentages. Results A majority of the studies were economic impact studies, followed by economic evaluation studies, especially cost-effectiveness analysis. In the costing/partial economic evaluation category, most were cost-description and cost-analysis studies. Under the economic impact/economic burden category, most studies investigated out-of-pocket spending. The studies were mostly on cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and neoplasms. Slightly over half of the studies were funded, with funding coming mainly from outside of India. Half of the studies were led by domestic authors. In most of the studies, the lead author was a clinician or a public health professional; however, most of the economist-led studies were by authors from outside India. Conclusions The results indicate the lack of engagement of economists generally and health economists in particular in research on NCDI in India. Demand from health policy makers for evidence-based decision making appears to be lacking, which in turn solidifies the divergence between economics and health policy, and highlights the need to prioritize scarce resources based on evidence regarding what works. Capacity building in health economics needs focus, and the government’s support in this is recommended.

• Publisher: Springer International Publishing,Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Analysis / Authorship / Cancer / Capacity building approach / Capacity development / Cardiovascular diseases / Classification / Cost analysis / Costing / Costs / Decision making / Diabetes / Disease / Economic analysis / Economic impact / Economics / Economists / Evidence based research / Evidence-based medicine / Expenditures / Funding / GDP / Generic products / Gross Domestic Product / Health Administration / Health care expenditures / Health care policy / Health Economics / Health policy / Households / Infectious diseases / Injuries / Investments / Medical decision making / Medical personnel / Medical screening / Medical technology / Medicine / Medicine & Public Health / Personal expenditure / Pharmacoeconomics / Pharmacoeconomics and Health Outcomes / Policy making / Prevention / Prevention programs / Public finance / Public Health / Public sector / Quality of Life Research / Statistics / Systematic Review / Tumors / Writers