Vera Squire
The rising economic cost of medical illnesses is a reflection of the increased prevalence of Non-Communicable Chronic Diseases (NCDs). In health economics research, observational studies are used to identify relationships between NCDs or related risk factors and economic variables such as health insurance, income inequality, job accessibility, education, and annual income. The conclusions drawn from such interactions are restricted to associations, which are frequently influenced by confounding variables and reverse causation, rather than proving causality. An effective technique for examining the causal relationships between modifiable risk variables and health economics metrics is the Mendelian randomization (MR) approach. The use of MR in the economic evaluation of health issues has begun, and the results so far have been encouraging.