To identify key factors for making RCTs more sustainable, empirical data on resource use and associated costs are needed.
Data on resource use, including hospitalizations, medical procedures, medications, and diagnostic tests, were abstracted from subjects' clinical trial records.
Of the 14 estimates of non-healthcare costs, 8 (57.14%) used primary sources to gather data on resource use and costs, and 6 other estimates (42.86%) used an approach that combined primary and secondary sources.
Table 7 Economic data for included studies Author (Year) Resource Use Source of Costs Non-medical costs Characterising Uncertainty Characterising Heterogeneity Currency (Price, Year) Findings Levin et al. (1991) [13] For direct costs, the source of data on resource use is unclear.
The costs were identified from components of trial budgets and primary data on resource use.
Data on resource use were collected using a telephone questionnaire.
Data on resource use will be collected at a three monthly basis using retrospective questionnaires.
However, to evaluate this hypothesis, quantitative data on resource use and competition are required.
Data on resource use were sourced from clinical opinion and published literature.
Data on resource use and prices came from relevant local sources and referred to 2012.
19 Data on resource use were collected for 30 days according to a standardised protocol.
