How should cost data in pragmatic randomised trials be analysed?
BMJPublished 29 April 2000Open access
Simon G. Thompson
Citations761
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TL;DR
Economic evaluations are now commonly included in pragmatic clinical trials that inform policy decisions and despite the usual skewness in the distribution of costs, it is the arithmetic mean that is the most informative measure.
Keywords
Economics, Econometrics and FinanceHealth Professions
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