ABSTRACT
An examination of the costs, the benefits, and the effectiveness of therapeutic technologies is essential to the decision-making process surrounding which therapies to use in which types of patients. The clearest example is when two therapies or technologies are equivalent in terms of effectiveness but differ in terms of costs. The decision as to which therapy to use can then be based primarily on the cost. However, in reality, decisions are not so clear-cut. Therapies are rarely equivalent in terms of effectiveness. Cost analyses differ by the type of costs that are included (e.g. direct medical costs, direct non-medical costs, indirect costs, intangible costs), which costs are attributable to the given therapy, the perspective of the payer, and whether the researchers use cost-identification, cost-effectiveness, cost-utility, or cost-benefit analyses. This chapter helps clinical researchers to understand better the differences in cost analyses and identifies specific analyses that have been conducted for multiple sclerosis.
