Economic evaluation of caregiver interventions for children with developmental disabilities: A scoping review

Globally, families with children with developmental disabilities (DDs) experience challenges, including social isolation, stigma, and poverty, especially in low-income settings in Africa. Most children with DDs in Africa remain unidentified and receive no formal support. Caregiver interventions focusing on education and training for the carers/parents have been shown to be adaptable and low intensity in implementation, although the economic evidence is limited. This review aimed to describe the evidence and methodological aspects of economic evaluations for caregiver interventions for DDs. The Arksey and O’Malley framework was applied. Seven electronic databases, grey literature and cited references were systematically searched to identify eligible studies. published from 1993 to 2023. We assessed the quality of the included studies using the Drummond checklist. Data were systematically extracted, tabulated, and qualitatively synthesised using inductive thematic analysis. From 7811 articles, twenty studies all in high-income countries were included, and focused on caregiver interventions for autism spectrum disorder (n = 7), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (n = 6), disruptive behaviour and behaviour problems with ADHD (n = 5), intellectual disabilities (n = 1) and language delay (n = 1). Economic evaluation analyses included cost effectiveness (n = 11), costing (n = 3), cost utility (n = 2), cost consequence (n = 1) cost benefit (n = 1), and combined analyses (n = 2). Nine studies reported the interventions as cost effective and five studies reported the intervention to be cost saving. The main methodological challenges were related to costing, outcome measurement in children and the appropriate time horizon for modelling. Caregiver interventions demonstrate cost-effectiveness, with the available evidence supporting the adoption of the interventions as a promising avenue to strengthen access and reduce the associated healthcare costs. The identified key methodological challenges highlighted further research areas. Prioritizing more economic evaluation studies in this area would inform decision-making on efficient resource allocation, promote inclusivity and equitable access to services for children with DDs.