Systematic review and critique of methods for economic evaluation of digital mental health interventions
Abstract
Objectives Investment in digital interventions for mental health conditions is growing rapidly, offering the potential to elevate systems that are currently overstretched. Despite a growing literature on economic evaluation of digital mental health interventions (DMHIs), including several systematic reviews, there is no conclusive evidence regarding their cost-effectiveness. This paper reviews the methodology used to determine their cost-effectiveness and assesses whether this meets the requirements for decision-making. In doing so we consider the challenges specific to the economic evaluation of DMHIs, and identify where consensus and possible further research is warranted. Methods A systematic review was conducted to identify all economic evaluations of DMHIs published between 1997 and December 2018. The searches included databases of published and unpublished research, reference lists and citations of all included studies, forward citations on all identified protocols and conference abstracts, and contacting authors researchers in the field. The identified studies were critiqued against a published set of requirements for decision-making in healthcare, identifying methodological challenges and areas where consensus is required. Results The review identified 67 papers evaluating DMHIs. The majority of the evaluations were conducted alongside trials, failing to capture all relevant available evidence and comparators, and long-term impact of mental health disorders. The ident…
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The cost-effectiveness of digital mental health services remains unclear.
“Although the cost-effectiveness of digital mental health services remains unclear, 427”
From The Lancet Psychiatry Commission on youth mental health (2024) · cites this paper as [427]
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Jankovic, D., Bojke, L., Marshall, D., Saramago Goncalves, P., Churchill, R., Melton, H., Brabyn, S., & Gega, L.
- Affiliations
- University of York (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Bojke, Laura
- Marshall, David
- Churchill, Rachel
- Melton, Hollie
- Brabyn, Sally
- Gega, Lina
- ORCID
- Venue
- Applied Health Economics and Health Policy
- Published
- 2020-08-17
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 17-27
- ISSN
- 1175-5652 (ISSN-L)
- 1179-1896
- OpenAlex
- W3067748910
- Cited by
- 36
- References
- 33
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 0.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Applied Health Economics and Health Policy (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Health Technology Assessment Programme (17/93/06, 2019)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Evaluation and Performance Assessment
- Keywords
- digital mental health interventions, economic evaluation, cost-effectiveness, methodological quality, healthcare decision-making, comparator, complex interventions, value for money
- MeSH terms
- Cost-Benefit Analysis, Humans, Mental Health
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