Analysis of Total Treatment Costs of Organophosphorous Poisoning in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

data collection is used for the same resource items. Methods: Articles citing 38 trial-based resource use instruments catalogued in the MRC-funded Database of Instruments for Resource Use Measurement (www.DIRUM.org) were identified using Google Scholar, ISI Web of Science and Scopus, and screened according to resource use measure usage. Data were extracted on: the method of administration, resources measured, rates of return and the nature of the other methods of resource use measurement. Results: A total of 146/1503 citations met the screening criteria. Nearly all (143/146) used resource use instruments derived from Beecham and Knapp's Client Service Receipt Inventory. Most instruments relied on patient-or proxy-recall (126/146) generally administered during researcher interviews. Primary and secondary care usage were the most widely asked items (136/146) with 75 using no supplementary supporting data such as from hospital notes. Twelve studies compared one or more method of data collection for the same resource items with 8 indicating good agreement between medical records and patient/carer recall, 1 indicating the greater reliability of case notes and 3 were not evaluable. ConClusions: Resource use instruments based on patient recall are valuable complements to other methods and essential for certain items (e.g. out of pocket costs, non-medical costs). However, there remains inappropriate use in circumstances where more objective measures are available.