A cost-utility analysis of pediatric cochlear implantation

The aim of this study was to explore the cost-utility of pediatric cochlear implantation, incorporating savings associated with education into the analysis.

The costs of pediatric cochlear implantation were based on the full costs levied to purchasers, inclusive of complications and maintenance, by a large pediatric cochlear implant program in the United Kingdom. After implantation, profoundly hearing-impaired children have been found to develop hearing threshold levels equivalent to severely hearing-impaired children who wear hearing aids. An independent study calculated the educational costs for severely hearing-impaired and profoundly hearing-impaired children. From this study, savings in educational costs that would result from enabling the profoundly hearing-impaired to function as severely hearing-impaired were determined. Cost-utility was established conservatively by applying to children the known gains in utility reported by adults with cochlear implants.

The discounted costs of creating a pediatric cochlear implant user and of maintaining the child over the first 12 years were 48,757 pound silver($78,011). The discounted difference in education costs associated with a profoundly hearing-impaired child (HL >95 dB) as compared with a severely hearing-impaired child (HL 70-95 dB) over the same period was 26,781 pound silver($42,850). These represent the potential savings in educational costs associated with pediatric cochlear implantation. Assuming implantation at age 4 years, the discounted net average cost of pediatric cochlear implantation over compulsory school years (ages 4-16) was 21,976 pound silver ($35,162). Cochlear implants have been shown to improve the quality of life in adults by 0.23 points per annum (where quality of life is rated on a scale from 0 to 1). Applying this weight to children receiving implantation at age 4 years, and assuming a life expectancy of 74 years, the quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) gain is calculated to be 16.33. The cost per undiscounted QALY gain was estimated to be 1,345.70 pound silver ($2153.12) and per discounted QALY gain to be 10,341 pound silver ($16,545.60).

This study provides evidence, based on conservative assumptions, to support the view that pediatric cochlear implantation is a cost-effective health care intervention in profoundly hearing-impaired young children.