Transferring results of occupational safety and health cost-effectiveness studies from one country to another – a case study

Abstract

Verbeek J, Pulliainen M, Kankaanpää E, Taimela S. Transferring results of occupational safety and health costeffectiveness studies from one country to another -a case study. Scand J Work Environ Health. 2010;36(4):305-312.Objectives There are a limited number of studies about the cost-effectiveness of occupational health and safety (OSH) interventions. Applying the results of a cost-effectiveness study from one country to another is hampered by differences in the organization of healthcare and social security. In order to find out how these problems can be overcome, we transferred the results of a Dutch occupational cost-effectiveness study to the Finnish situation and vice-versa. MethodsWe recalculated incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICER) for the target country based on resource use in the original study and the associated costs in the target country. We also allocated the costs to the employer, the employee, and tax-payers. ResultsWe found that the ICER did not differ very much from those in the original studies. However, the different healthcare funding structure led to a more unfavorable ICER for employers in the Netherlands. Both interventions represented a cost saving for tax-payers and employees. Employers had to invest €10-54 to avert one day of sick leave. ConclusionsWe conclude that results of cost-effectiveness studies can be transferred from one country to another, but many adjustments are needed. An extensive description of the intervention, a detailed list of resource use, allocation of costs to various parties, and detailed knowledge of the healthcare systems in the original studies are necessary to enable calculations.

Trial-Based Economic Evaluations in Occupational Health

“…Verbeek et al66 demonstrated that economic evaluation results can be generalized from one country to another. Nevertheless, to enable the necessary calculations, researchers need to provide an extensive description of the intervention, a detailed list of resource use as well as information of the health care system in the original study and the allocation of costs to various stakeholders 66…”

Dimensión económica de la seguridad y la salud en el trabajo: una revisión de literatura

“…De hecho, en esta área hay pocos estudios que evalúen la costo-efectividad de las intervenciones en seguridad y salud en el trabajo, y los que existen tiene una baja calidad (66). Asimismo, también se observa que son pocos los trabajos de campo realizados que usen fuentes primarias de información.…”

Translation research in occupational safety and health: A proposed framework

“…The third stage of the translation research framework involves studies of evidence‐based technology and recommendations into well accepted OSH practice, through large‐scale delivery, dissemination, and diffusion research . The emphasis now is on external validity , resolving implementation challenges, and ensuring that an intervention or recommendation actually works within and can be integrated into a broad range of workplace settings.…”

“…Translation research is a multidisciplinary field of research composed of such disciplines as intervention effectiveness research, implementation research, health communication, and dissemination research, evaluation research, knowledge utilization, diffusion of innovations research, social marketing and commercial marketing, and surveillance and economic evaluation . However, application of these and related approaches in the OSH field has been limited and as Rantanen has noted, “such research on research is relatively scarce and even the paradigm for such studies is not well developed.”…”