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. 2018 Nov 1;18(1):90.
doi: 10.1186/s12911-018-0663-1.

Multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) in health care: a systematic review of the main characteristics and methodological steps

Talita D C Frazão  1 , Deyse G G Camilo  2 , Eric L S Cabral  2 , Ricardo P Souza  2
Affiliations

Multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) in health care: a systematic review of the main characteristics and methodological steps

Talita D C Frazão et al. BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. .

Abstract

Background: The health area is one of the most affected systems on the perspective of decision-making with multiobjectives, thus becoming prone to errors in the final solution, however, multicriteria decision analysis (MDCA) appears as an aid tool for this process decision-making. Therefore,the present study aims to analyze and synthesize articles found in the literature, involing MCDA in health care, evaluating general issues and methodological aspects, structuring them in a single work.

Methods: Surveys in the bibliographic databases SCOPUS and PUBMED indicated 1852 documents on the subject, however after a careful verificatios, 66 studies were selected to be analyzed completely. The data extracted from the included articles were organized into a spreadsheet for the preparation of analysis, and the technique used was descriptive statistics.

Results: It was possible to identify a growth trend in the application of the MCDA in the health area, but no dominance was identified in relation to the authors of the publication and the periodicals where they are published, but some countries stood out in terms of the number of published researches, such as: Canada and Turkey. In defining the decision problem, and in defining criteria, the "literature" presented the greatest demand for those who wish to structure their decision problem. Finally, it was verified by the analysis of the problem, that the MCDA to solve the problems of ranking has comprehensive application and that there is a greater incidence in the use of the AHP and Logic methods Fuzzy.

Conclusion: With this, it is possible to observe, through the data of this review, that more than the multicriteria methods, the multicriteria decision model has been highlighted, also in the health area. In addition, the study can guide new applications and techniques using MCDA in the health care.

Keywords: Health care; Methodological aspects; Multicriteria decision analysis; Systematic review.

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Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Sequential steps which were followed for the collection and analysis of the data of the included articles
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Four chart which show the analysis of the general aspects of the articles included, such as: a demonstration of publications, b main countries, c authors, and d journals
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Analysis of the problem definition strategy for structuring the MCDA
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Analysis of the types of intervention that are aided by the MCDA
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Analysis of the strategy to define the criteria for structuring the MCDA
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Analysis of the problem and the main MCDAs methods used to aid decisions. a Types of problem. b Methods type
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
Analysis of the MCDAs methods used to aid the decision of the problems of choice, ranking and sorting
Fig. 8
Fig. 8
Analysis of the number of articles excluded to reveal the main reasons for the exclusions
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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