The effectiveness initiative. II: The spectrum of effectiveness research
A. M. Fendrick, C. S. Goodman and J. D. Trobe
Division of General Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA.
Effectiveness research aims to base medical decision making more on
rigorous evidence than on intuition and anecdote. The methods used to
generate new data include, in order of decreasing rigor, clinical trials,
observational studies, claims data analysis, and anecdotal studies. The
methods that synthesize existing data include unstructured literature
reviews, consensus development, meta-analysis, and decision modeling. Cost
minimization, cost-effectiveness, and cost-benefit analyses are formal
methods of incorporating the economic impact of alternative medical
interventions.
