Table 3 The different types of economic evaluation
From: Economic evaluation: a reader’s guide to studies of cost-effectiveness
Cost–benefit analysis (CBA) | Effects are measured in monetary units |
Cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA)i | Effects are measured in any other unit of effect, e.g. deaths averted, jobs saved, treatment responders, units of a patient-reported outcome measure, … |
Cost-utility analysis (CUA) | Effects are measured in QALYs (or less commonly DALYs), which are utilities summed over time |
Cost-minimisation analysis (CMA) | Effects are not considered, just costs alone |