An Application of the Checklist for Health Economic Quality Evaluations in a Systematic Review Setting

Objective: Quality assessment tools serve an important role in evaluating economic evaluations. This article showcases the first application of the Checklist for Health Economic Quality Evaluations (CHEQUE) tool in a systematic review setting and offers descriptive reflections on its use. Methods: We applied CHEQUE to 21 diverse economic evaluations in a systematic review of medical education. We visualized weighted CHEQUE scores, calculate correlations between methods and reporting sections, and provided all data and R code for reuse in future applications. Finally, we provided a detailed overview of our judgments and alternative considerations of the checklist items, and suggestions for further development. Results: Scores ranged from 18% to 94% depending on the applied weighting method, with a positive correlation between the method and reporting quality. CHEQUE enables systematic and standardized assessment but may benefit from refinement in scoring clarity and burden reduction. Conclusion: Our study provides insights for future guidance on applying and developing CHEQUE or similar tools in economic evaluation quality assessment.