Systematic Review of Costs and Effects of Self-Management Interventions for Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain: Spotlight on Analytic Perspective and Outcomes Assessment

Background: Evidence for the cost-effectiveness of self-management interventions for chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMP) lacks consensus, which may be due to variability in the costing methods employed.

Purpose: The purposes of the study were to identify how costs and effects have been assessed in economic analysis of self-management interventions for CMP and to identify the effect of the chosen analytical perspective on cost-effectiveness conclusions.

Data sources: Five databases were searched for all study designs using relevant terms.

Study selection: Two independent researchers reviewed all titles for predefined inclusion criteria: adults (≥18 years of age) with CMP, interventions with a primary aim of promoting self-management, and conducted a cost analysis.

Data extraction: Descriptive data including population, self-management intervention, analytical perspective, and costs and effects measured were collected by one reviewer and checked for accuracy by a second reviewer.

Data synthesis: Fifty-seven studies were identified: 65% (n = 37) chose the societal perspective, of which 89% (n = 33) captured health care utilization, 92% (n = 34) reported labor productivity, 65% (n = 24) included intervention delivery, and 59% (n = 22) captured patient/family costs. Types of costs varied in all studies. Eight studies conducted analyses from both health service and societal perspectives; cost-effectiveness estimates varied with perspective chosen, but in no case was the difference sufficient to change overall policy recommendations.

Limitations: Chronic musculoskeletal pain conditions where self-management is recommended, but not as a primary treatment, were excluded. Gray literature was excluded.

Conclusion: Substantial heterogeneity in the cost components captured in the assessment of self-management for CMP was found; this was independent of the analytic perspective used. Greater efforts to ensure complete and consistent costings are required if reliable cost-effectiveness evidence of self-management interventions is to be generated and to inform the most appropriate perspective for economic analyses in this field.