A Bibliometric Review of Cost-Effectiveness Analyses in the Economic and Medical Literature: 1976-2006

Abstract

Background. Cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) presenting a cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) ratio is frequently used to determine ‘‘value for money’’ in health care. Despite the proliferation of CEA research, there has been no detailed study focusing on the bibliometric properties of this literature. Objectives. To describe and analyze trends in publications and coauthorship in the CEA literature from 1976 to 2006 and to identify the most prolific authors and research groups conducting CEAs. Methods. The authors used the Tufts Medical Center Registry of original CEAs published through 2006 (www.cearegistry.org). For each article, they recorded the year of publication, the journal title, and the number of contributing authors and their names. Authors were assigned credit based on their weighted contribution to the study (1 credit point for the first and last authors, ½ point for the second author, and ¹=_n credit points for all other authors, where n reflects the number of coauthors). Results. Approximately 1400 CEAs presenting a cost/QALY ratio were published in 420 journals through 2006. The mean number of contributing authors was 4.7 ± 2.4. Medical journals were characterized by a higher number of coauthors, as compared with the economic and health policy journals: 4.8 ± 2.4 v. 4.2 ± 2.0, P < 0.001. The lowest average number of coauthors was in Medical Decision Making (3.6) and the highest in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (8.2). The most prolific authors were affiliated with Harvard and Tufts Universities and their affiliated hospitals. The authors identified 4 major research groups that contributed substantially to the field of cost-effectiveness analysis but did not find any substantial academic relationships across these groups. Conclusions. The CEA literature continues to proliferate. Coauthorship trends appear to follow the rapid increase in the mean number of authors found in other publication types.

Keywords

cost-effectiveness analysis authorship QALY.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Levsky ME , Rosin A. , Coon TP , Enslow WL , Miller MA A descriptive analysis of authorship within medical journals, 1995-2005. South Med J. 2007;100:371-5.

Weeks WB , Wallace AE , Kimberly BC Changes in authorship patterns in prestigious US medical journals. Soc Sci Med. 2004; 59:1949-54.

Borry P. , Schotsmans P. , Dierickx K. Author, contributor or just a signer? A quantitative analysis of authorship trends in the field of bioethics. Bioethics. 2006;20:213-20.

Rubin RM , Chang CF A bibliometric analysis of health economics articles in the economics literature: 1991-2000. Health Econ. 2003;12:403-14.

Neumann PJ , Greenberg D. , Olchanski NV , Stone PW , Rosen AB Growth and quality of the cost-utility literature, 1976-2001. Value Health. 2005;8:3-9.

Sonnad SS , Greenberg D. , Rosen AB , Neumann PJ Diffusion of published cost-utility analyses in the field of health policy and practice. Int J Technol Assess Health Care. 2005;21:399-402.

Rhoades SA The Herfindahl-Hirschman index. Fed Res Bull. 1993;79:188-9.

Stone PW , Schackman BR , Neukermans CP , et al. A synthesis of cost-utility analysis literature in infectious disease. Lancet Infect Dis. 2005;5:383-91.

Jones BF , Wuchty S. , Uzzi B. Multi-university research teams: shifting impact, geography, and stratification in science. Science. 2008;322:1259-62.

10.

Whitfield J. Collaboration: group theory. Nature. 2008;455: 720-3.

11.

Greenberg D. , Wacht O. , Pliskin JS Peer review in publication: factors associated with the full-length publication of studies presented in abstract form at the annual meeting of the Society for Medical Decision Making. Med Decis Making. 2008;28:938-42.

12.

Kulkarni AV , Busse JW , Shams I. Characteristics associated with citation rate of the medical literature. PLoS ONE. 2007;2:e403.