An overview of the characteristics and quality assessment criteria in systematic review of pharmacoeconomics.

BACKGROUND: The systematic review of economic evaluations plays a critical role in making well-informed decisions about competing healthcare interventions. The quality of these systematic reviews varies due to the lack of internationally recognized methodological evaluation standards. METHODS: Nine English and Chinese databases including the Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMbase (Ovid), NHS economic evaluation database (NHSEED) (Ovid), Health Technology Assessment (HTA) database, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), WangFang, VIP Chinese Science & Technology Periodicals (VIP) and Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM) were searched. Two reviewers independently screened studies and extracted data. The methodological quality of the literature was measured with modified AMSTAR. Data were narrative synthesized. RESULTS: 165 systematic reviews were included. The overall methodological quality of the literature was moderate according to the AMSTAR scale. In these articles, thirteen quality assessment tools and 32 author self-defined criteria were used. The three most widely used tools were the Drummond checklist (19.4%), the BMJ checklist (15.8%), the Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS) statement (12.7%). Others included the Quality of Health Economic Studies (QHES), the Consensus on Health Economic Criteria (CHEC), the checklist of Center for Reviews and Dissemination (CRD), the Philips checklist, the World Health Organization (WHO) checklist, the checklist of Critical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP), the Pediatric Quality Appraisal Questionnaire (PQAQ), the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) checklist, Spanish and Chinese guidelines. The quantitative scales used in these literature were the QHES and PQAQ. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence showed that pharmacoeconomic systematic reviews' methodology remained to be improved, and the quality assessment criteria were gradually unified. Multiple scales can be used in combination to evaluate the quality of economic research in different settings and types.

Analysis of Medication Therapy Management at Home and Abroad / 中国药房

OBJECTIVE： To descriptively analyze the status quo of medication therapy management （MTM） at home and abroad， and to provide reference for the development of MTM in China. METHODS：Retrieved from PubMed， Embase， Cochrane Library， CNKI， VIP， Wanfang database， CBM，and simultaneously searched Google and Baidu， retrieve time from the database establishment to March 2019， Chinese retrieval words： “medication therapy management”， English retrieval words： “Medication therapy management” “Management”“Medication therapy”“Therapy management”“Medication”“Drug therapy management”， etc. Domestic and foreign MTM literatures were included. Descriptive analysis was conducted in terms of literature publication， research type distribution， disease distribution and the status quo of MTM literatures in women and children. The necessity and feasibility of MTM in the field of women and children were analyzed. RESULTS & CONCLUSIONS： A total of 403 MTM related literatures （344 foreign， 59 domestic） were included. Among them， the foreign MTM literatures had 154 secondary researches and 190 original studies， clinical value， economic value and humanistic value of MTM were studied in repsects of service providers， service objects， service processes， service effects and other parties. Domestic MTM literatures had 37 secondary researches and 22 original researches， which mainly introduced the US MTM， including implementation background， concept， elements， application status， etc.； the significance and prospects of MTM in China were analyzed. Domestic and foreign MTM literatures mostly focused on chronic diseases in the elderly， mainly endocrine and cardiovascular diseases， such as hypertension， diabetes， and kidney disease. 11 studies about women and children MTM were included （women 5 studies and children 6 studies）； 4 of them were review， 5 were cross-sectional studies， and 2 were case reports. The effects of women and children MTM were introduced in the included literatures from the times of interventions， the number of drug-related problems prevention or improvement， the patient’s clinical outcomes， etc. MTM studies have great differences between at home and aboard in terms of the number of literatures， research types and contents. The researches focus on the field of chronic diseases in the elderly， and there is little literature on MTM in the field of women and children. It is necessary to provide MTM services for women and children in the light of the Millennium Development Goals proposed by the United Nations and the increasing problem of women and children medication. It is suggested to use the MTM model to develop women and children chronic disease pharmaceutical service so as to promote the transformation of pharmacists and improve the quality of pharmaceutical care.