Multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) in health care: a systematic review of the main characteristics and methodological steps

Abstract

BackgroundThe health area is one of the most affected systems on the perspective of decision-making with multiobjectives, thus becoming prone to errors in the final solution, however, multicriteria decision analysis (MDCA) appears as an aid tool for this process decision-making. Therefore,the present study aims to analyze and synthesize articles found in the literature, involing MCDA in health care, evaluating general issues and methodological aspects, structuring them in a single work.MethodsSurveys in the bibliographic databases SCOPUS and PUBMED indicated 1852 documents on the subject, however after a careful verificatios, 66 studies were selected to be analyzed completely. The data extracted from the included articles were organized into a spreadsheet for the preparation of analysis, and the technique used was descriptive statistics.ResultsIt was possible to identify a growth trend in the application of the MCDA in the health area, but no dominance was identified in relation to the authors of the publication and the periodicals where they are published, but some countries stood out in terms of the number of published researches, such as: Canada and Turkey. In defining the decision problem, and in defining criteria, the “literature” presented the greatest demand for those who wish to structure their decision problem. Finally, it was verified by the analysis of the problem, that the MCDA to solve the problems of ranking has comprehensive application and that there is a greater incidence in the use of the AHP and Logic methods Fuzzy.ConclusionWith this, it is possible to observe, through the data of this review, that more than the multicriteria methods, the multicriteria decision model has been highlighted, also in the health area. In addition, the study can guide new applications and techniques using MCDA in the health care.

Potential Criteria for Frameworks to Support the Evaluation of Innovative Medicines in Upper Middle-Income Countries—A Systematic Literature Review on Value Frameworks and Multi-Criteria Decision Analyses

“…They analyzed the trends in MCDA publications in addition to the types of sources and methods used to develop particular parts of the MCDAs. Based on their review, they identified a growing trend in the application of MCDA in the field of health, with great emphasis from the year 2014 (Frazão et al, 2018). This finding is in line with our approach of restricting the timeframe of our research to 2013 and beyond.…”

Multi-criteria analysis in the health area: selection of the most appropriate triage system for the emergency care units in natal

“…The first stage starts following the MCDA application parameters presented by [34], which consists of three basic steps: Definition of the problem, Definition of the alternatives and Definition of the criteria [45,46].…”

Priority Setting in The Brazilian Emergency Medical Service: A Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA)

“…Before selecting and implementing any method for MCDA, one must define the limits of the problem to be addressed, the more accurately the problem is defined, the more precise will be the analysis results [1]. The definition of the problem has happened, mainly, through discussion groups, formed by interdisciplinary teams and based on the knowledge and experience of the decision makers about the problem in question, with the possibility of consulting the relevant literature as well as specialists in the field [5].…”

“…The use of MCDA as a method to support the establishment of health care priorities is not new. Some researchers show its growing importance in the health care area [4,2,5,6], especially in the context of public health systems [7,8,9,10]. This is due to the combination of restricted resources and growing demands, which have led decision makers to address this issue more directly than in the past [11].…”