Parameter estimation

Abstract

This chapter focuses on parameter estimation. Economic models that are used to measure vaccine value are only as strong as the data used in the model. Health economists depend on the availability of data from a number of different reliable sources in order to populate a model with parameters, including clinical, epidemiological, economic, and utility estimates. These sources include some of the typical study designs that one might encounter from data on vaccine effectiveness, such as randomized-controlled trials, observational studies, etc. The chapter will explore how to extract high-quality information about costs, effectiveness and probability parameters that can be used to make an economic model functional.