Functional disorders of the gastrointestinal tract: Cost effectiveness review

Background: The project aim was to review current cost-effectiveness research for each functional gastrointestinal disorder, as defined by the Rome III classification system. Methods: Biomedical databases were searched for articles with the functional gastrointestinal disorders and their pseudonyms included in the title, abstract, or medical subject headings, plus the terms benefit, cost, effectiveness, outcomes, test, utility, or utilization in any search field. Results: Highly prevalent conditions such as dyspepsia and irritable bowel syndrome have advanced cost-effectiveness analyses including cost utility studies that have helped support current management guidelines. The rarer functional gastrointestinal disorders have few or no published cost-effectiveness analyses, but the Rome III classification system provides a framework for identifying the specific cost data or outcomes measures available or needed for future research. Conclusions: The Rome process has provided a useful system for defining the functional gastrointestinal disorders and identifying specific clinical questions to be examined using cost-effectiveness analysis techniques. (C) 2013 The Author. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.