Patient Self-Reports in Pharmacoeconomic StudiesTheir Use and Impact on Study Validity

The validity of estimates of resource utilisation based on patient recall has not been firmly established. A comprehensive literature search was conducted to identify studies that used patient self-reports to derive estimates of healthcare resource utilisation, direct nonmedical costs and indirect costs. Previous work in this area was examined to determine the issues that were most important in determining whether patient self-reports lead to valid and unbiased estimates in cost-effectiveness studies.