Cost-effectiveness considerations in pediatric cochlear implantation.
OBJECTIVE
To summarizes the results of cost-utility analyses of pediatric cochlear implantation (CI) in the United Kingdom.


METHODS
Analysis is based on the direct costs of medical and rehabilitative management and also on emerging evidence that implantation leads to a shift in educational placements in favor of mainstreaming with support.


RESULTS
The resulting cost-utility ratio falls on the margin of the range considered acceptable within the British health-care system. The analysis also suggests that pediatric CI could be acceptably cost-effective.


CONCLUSIONS
The next step should be to measure the costs of alternative educational settings directly.
Summerfield
A Q
AQ
MRC Institute of Hearing Research, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom.
Marshall
D H
DH
Archbold
S
S
D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019929:Cochlear Implantation / Q000191:economics*; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003638:Deafness / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans