Objectives: This article updates, through 1996, a previously published bibliography of health-care cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis, which described the literature from 1979 to 1990.
Methods: A systematic search of MEDLARS databases was conducted for all articles falling under the medical subject headings "cost-benefit analysis" (which includes cost-effectiveness analysis) and "costs and cost analysis," as well as any article with the term "cost" in the title or abstract. All titles and abstracts were scanned to determine whether articles pertained to personal health services and whether both costs and consequences were assessed. If both criteria were met, the article was included in the bibliography.
Results: This search resulted in 3,539 eligible cost-benefit/cost-effectiveness analysis publications from 1991 through 1996. Publications were subdivided into two major categories: reports of studies and "other" publications, including reviews, descriptions of methodology, letters, and editorials. Reports of studies and "other" publications were classified into approximately 250 different topic areas. Studies were further classified by parameters such as study type, publication vehicle, and medical function. This article describes the results of this classification and describes trends during 1991 to 1996 as compared with 1979 to 1990. OVERVIEW OF CONTENTS: The entire bibliography is reproduced in Appendix A. The classification of study reports and "other" publications into topic areas is presented in Appendix B, with numbered references to all bibliography entries. Detailed tables of findings are presented in Appendix C, and the results are illustrated graphically in Appendix D.