Published: 14-06-2016

At ISPOR DC, we were asked how to find cost-effectiveness studies of bariatric surgery. Here's how to use heoro.com to answer that question. Several of the people we spoke to at the recent ISPOR congress were interested in finding economic modelling studies on bariatric surgery for obesity in the United States. Here's how to find relevant abstracts: 1. Log into www.heoro.com and go to the Dashboard. 2. Add "Obesity" to the first, Disease, selection box. 3. In the Location box below that, add "United States". Leave the Boolean option box beside the Location box as "AND". 4. In the Intervention box below that, add "Bariatric surgery". Again, leave the Boolean option box as "AND". 5. In the Study type selection box on the right side of the screen, add "Economic model studies" from the menu, with the Boolean option as "AND". 6. In the Econ model menu that appears beneath the study type box, select the types of model you are interested in: for example, select "Cost utility study". Keep the Boolean option in front of the box as "AND". 7. Then, click on the "+" sign at the end of the box. Add "Cost effectiveness study" to the box that appears below. Change the Boolean option in front of that box to "OR". 8. Click again on the "+", and add "Cost benefit study" to the box that appears below, and change the Boolean option before the box to "OR". 9. To remove systematic and narrative reviews of economic models, select "NOT" "Systematic review" from the Study methodology box.   The search found 14 abstracts. Of these:

• 5 compared cost-effectiveness of different types of bariatric surgery
• 4 evaluated bariatric surgery in people with comorbidities: 2 in diabetes, 1 in cancer, 1 in multiple other diseases
• 2 were general assessments of bariatric surgery in specific US populations
• 1 conducted a cost-benefit analysis from an employer's perspective
• 1 explored the inclusion of indirect costs into such models
• 1 studied resource allocation implications

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