Modelling the cost-effectiveness of a newborn hearing screening programme; usability and pitfalls

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Economics
• Audiology

Background:

• European vision and hearing screening programmes are crucial for early detection.
• Cost-effectiveness analysis is vital for optimizing public health interventions.
• Developing adaptable tools is essential for managing screening programmes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the development and usability of an online tool for newborn hearing screening (NHS) programmes.
• To enable stakeholders to design, analyze, or modify NHS programmes.
• To provide a cost-effectiveness model for evaluating NHS programmes.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from literature, existing NHS programmes, and user observations.
• Incorporated inputs such as prevalence, test sequence, attendance, sensitivity, and specificity.
• Developed an online tool for stakeholder use in programme analysis.

Main Results:

• The tool requires specific inputs on programme parameters and outputs detection numbers and costs.
• Analyses explored the impact of attendance, screening steps, and timing on programme outcomes.
• Demonstrated the importance of epidemiological knowledge for effective tool utilization.

Conclusions:

• Presents a user-friendly online tool for designing and analyzing newborn hearing screening programmes.
• Aids stakeholders in assessing the benefits and costs of proposed or existing NHS programmes.
• Facilitates informed decision-making to optimize hearing screening initiatives.