ArticleEuropean archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery2025
The cost-effectiveness of unilateral cochlear implantation in the Finnish health care.
Article in European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Economic Evaluations of Hearing Interventions in Older Adults: A Systematic Review of Evidence and Methods.Advances in therapy · 2026Pooled it
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PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeThis study estimates the cost-effectiveness of unilateral cochlear implants (UCIs) for Finnish adults with severe to profound hearing loss within the contemporary Finnish healthcare system.
methodsWe conducted a cost-utility analysis using a Markov model to compare UCIs with hearing aids for adults with severe to profound hearing loss. We developed an average clinical pathway based on data from three Finnish university hospitals to estimate resource use. The model captured health-related quality of life, potential adverse events, device upgrades, and device failure. We estimated unit costs from national expert opinions and from grey and published literature. We performed a probabilistic sensitivity analysis to evaluate how uncertain model inputs affect the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER).
resultsThe ICER for UCIs compared to hearing aids in the Finnish adult population was €14,528 per quality-adjusted life year (QALY). The cost-effectiveness acceptability curve indicated a 98,5% likelihood that UCIs are cost-effective compared to a €25,000 per QALY gained threshold. The ICER was most sensitive to the discount rate, UCI device and surgery costs, the utility increment from UCI treatment, costs associated with UCI fitting, and the cost and upgrade cycle of sound processors.
conclusionUCIs for adults are cost-effective within the Finnish healthcare setting. Our results align with ICER findings for UCIs in the UK and Swedish adult populations, despite differences in indications, clinical pathways, and device unit costs. All studies suggest that UCIs are more cost-effective when implemented at an earlier age, given the same level of hearing performance.
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Registered trials
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