[Are pharmacoeconomic studies pertinant?].

Abstract

Pharmacoeconomic studies are more and more considered to be part of both medical practice and evaluation. Today they are essential to drug registration. The implementation of clinical studies includes many difficulties, as costs have to be precisely defined. Depending on the type of clinical study, the pharmacoeconomic study may be aimed at lowering the costs; it may also be either a cost-efficacy, a cost-benefit or a cost-utility analysis. Difficulties are maximal in intensive care. An analysis of two examples issuing from the nomenclature of homogeneous groups of patients shows the inadequacy of this classification actually in Intensive care and for the analyses of drug cost. In regard to intensive care, difficulties in evaluating properly the cost of nosocomial infections is illustrated through concrete examples.