Capacity for health economics research and practice in Jordan, Lebanon, the occupied Palestinian territories and Turkey: needs assessment and options for development

Abstract

Background: Capacity for health economics analysis and research is indispensable for evidence-informed allocations of scarce health resources; however, little is known about the experience and capacity strengthening preferences of academics and practitioners in the Eastern Mediterranean region. This study aimed to assess the needs for strengthening health economics capacity in Jordan, Lebanon, the occupied Palestinian territories and Turkey as part of the Research for Health in Conflict in the Middle East and North Africa (R4HC) project. Methods: We combined a bibliometric analysis of health economics outputs based on a literature search conducted across seven databases with an online survey of academic researchers and non-academic practitioners. The records included in the bibliometric analysis were original studies and reviews with an explicit economic outcome related to health, disease or disability, had at least one author in Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine or Turkey, and were published between January 2014 and December 2018. Two types of analyses were conducted using VOSviewer software, namely keyword co-occurrence and co-publication networks across countries and organisations. The online survey asked academic researchers, analysts and decision-makersidentified through the bibliometric analysis and regional professional networksabout previous exposure to and priorities for capacity development in health economics. Results: Of 15,185 records returned by the literature search, 566 were included in the bibliometric analysis. Organisations in Turkey contributed more than 80% of records and had the broadest and most diverse network of collaborators, nationally and internationally. Only 1% (n = 7) of studies were collaborations between researchers in two or more different jurisdictions. Cost analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis and health system economics were the main health economics topics across the included studies. Economic evaluations, measuring the economic burden of disease and health equity, were reported by survey respondents (n = 80) as the most important areas to develop in. Short courses, learn-by-doing and mentoring from an experienced professional were, in aggregate, the most preferred learning styles.

Global trends and prospects in health economics of robotic surgery: A bibliometric analysis

“…To minimize bias introduced by manual selection, we employed a well-defined selection criteria, taking Gheorghe and colleagues’ research as a reference. Specifically, we included documents that explicitly listed any economic outcome related to health, disease, or disability, including but not limited to cost, cost-effectiveness, patient-reported outcomes, poverty associated with accessing healthcare, provider or health system performance, and health expenditures, in the abstract or title 29 . The study selection and flow chart of the research framework are shown in Figure 1 .…”

Developing a tool to assess the skills to perform a health technology assessment

“…The ethics and patient and public involvement sub-sections contain three and four statements each. In the fourth, and last sub-section informants are asked about their skills in health economics (11 statements); these statements were adapted (with permission) from the iDSI economic tool [ 30 ]. Each statement seeks informants to reflect and respond with what the individual knows about topic and what level of skills she/he has in the area.…”

“…The team was not aware of any existing validated tools for this purpose, and tools that we were aware of, were for example the “WHO Global Survey on Health Technology Assessment by National Authorities” [ 29 ], which focused on system level or institutional capacities for HTA, rather than the individual which was necessary for NIPH’s long-term collaborations. Other tools the team was aware of focused only on health economics [ 30 ] or patient and public engagement [ 31 ]. In addition, a summary report of published literature related to capacity building and HTA in Ghana had identified strength in primary research, information retrieval, and analysis [ 13 ], but that no specific assessment HTA assessment had previously been completed in Ghana.…”

Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards: Turkish Adaptation of the Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards Checklist

“…10 Türkiye'de sağlık ekonomisi alanı son yıllarda önemli ölçüde genişlemiş olup, bilimsel dergilerde yayımlanan ekonomik değerlendirme içeren yayınların sayısı da bu durumu yansıtmaktadır. 11 Ancak çalışmalar, Türkçe bir raporlama kılavuzu olmaması nedeniyle tutarsız bir şekilde sunulmaktadır. 12 Türkiye'de ilk STD ajansı Sağlık Bakanlığı (SB) tarafından yaklaşık 10 yıl önce kurulmuştur.…”