Cost-Benefit Analysis of Hearing Care and Hearing Aids
Cost-benefit or cost effectiveness analysis is the appraisal of the costs of health services compared to the extent of patient benefit. The cost-benefit analysis of hearing care services and hearing aids, found in online research, is one interesting current issue that has received little attention and coverage in the Medicare program.
Willink, Reed and Lin (2019) undertook a cost-benefit analysis of hearing care services of older adults with hearing aids by conducting a cross-sectional analysis of 1:1 match of Medicare recipients with hearing aids. The participants were balanced on demographic and socioeconomic traits. They concluded from the analysis that the utilization of hearing care services among older adults with hearing aids led to reduced Medicare spending.
Brent (2019) performed a cost-benefit analysis of hearing aids and the cost- effectiveness of reducing the symptoms of dementia by analyzing data from the National Alzheimer’ Coordinating Center (NACC) and by using measures such as Clinical Dementia Rating scale and the Quality of Life measure. They found that hearing aids reduced the symptoms of dementia which in turn improved the quality of life.
Chao and Chen (2008) conducted a cost-benefit analysis of the use of hearing aids in patients aged between 50 and 80 years who had hearing impairment. The interventions they mediated was the use of a hearing aid after consultation with an audiologist compared to lacking a hearing aid and the measurement of benefit used was quality-adjusted life-years. It was found that hearing-aids were cost-effective for hearing-disabled elderly patients. The reporting and methods were found to be satisfactory.
References
Brent, R. J. (2019). A cost–benefit analysis of hearing aids, including the benefits of reducing the symptoms of dementia. Applied Economics, 1-13.
Chao, T. K., & Chen, T. H. H. (2008). Cost-effectiveness of hearing aids in the hearing-impaired elderly: a probabilistic approach. Otology & Neurotology, 29(6), 776-783.
Willink, A., Reed, N. S., & Lin, F. R. (2019). Cost‐Benefit Analysis of Hearing Care Services: What Is It Worth to Medicare?. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
