Equity-informative methods of health services research

TY - JOUR

T1 - Equity-informative methods of health services research

AU - Cookson, Richard

AU - Robson, Matthew

AU - Skarda, Ieva

AU - Doran, Tim

N1 - Funding Information: This is independent research by the University of York funded by the Wellcome Trust (Grant No. 205427/Z/16/Z). Work developing some of the methods described was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (SRF-2013-06-015). © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details

PY - 2021/10/8

Y1 - 2021/10/8

N2 - Purpose: We review quantitative methods for analysing the equity impacts of health care and public health interventions: who benefits most and who bears the largest burdens (opportunity costs)? Mainstream health services research focuses on effectiveness and efficiency but decision makers also need information about equity. Design/methodology/approach: We review equity-informative methods of quantitative data analysis in three core areas of health services research: effectiveness analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis and performance measurement. An appendix includes further readings and resources. Findings: Researchers seeking to analyse health equity impacts now have a practical and flexible set of methods at their disposal which builds on the standard health services research toolkit. Some of the more advanced methods require specialised skills, but basic equity-informative methods can be used by any health services researcher with appropriate skills in the three core areas. Originality/value: We hope that this review will raise awareness of equity-informative methods of health services research and facilitate their entry into the mainstream so that health policymakers are routinely presented with information about who gains and who loses from their decisions.

AB - Purpose: We review quantitative methods for analysing the equity impacts of health care and public health interventions: who benefits most and who bears the largest burdens (opportunity costs)? Mainstream health services research focuses on effectiveness and efficiency but decision makers also need information about equity. Design/methodology/approach: We review equity-informative methods of quantitative data analysis in three core areas of health services research: effectiveness analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis and performance measurement. An appendix includes further readings and resources. Findings: Researchers seeking to analyse health equity impacts now have a practical and flexible set of methods at their disposal which builds on the standard health services research toolkit. Some of the more advanced methods require specialised skills, but basic equity-informative methods can be used by any health services researcher with appropriate skills in the three core areas. Originality/value: We hope that this review will raise awareness of equity-informative methods of health services research and facilitate their entry into the mainstream so that health policymakers are routinely presented with information about who gains and who loses from their decisions.

KW - Conditional average treatment effects

KW - Cost/benefit analysis

KW - Distributional cost-effectiveness analysis

KW - Equity

KW - Inequality

KW - Quality improvement

KW - Quality indicators

KW - Quasi experimental designs

KW - Randomised controlled trials

KW - Small-area analysis

KW - Socioeconomic factors

KW - Subgroup analysis

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85108973817&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1108/JHOM-07-2020-0275

DO - 10.1108/JHOM-07-2020-0275

M3 - Review article

C2 - 34189877

AN - SCOPUS:85108973817

SN - 1477-7266

VL - 35

JO - Journal of Health Organization and Management

JF - Journal of Health Organization and Management

IS - 6

ER -