Oh Heonjeong, Yoon Chul Young, Lee Junhun, Seo Young Joon, Chung Wankyo, Park Moo Kyun
Department of Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
Clin Exp Otorhinolaryngol. 2025 May;18(2):143-151. doi: 10.21053/ceo.2024.00255. Epub 2025 Jan 21.
This study evaluated the cost-effectiveness of using hearing aids among individuals aged 50 and older with varying levels of hearing loss in South Korea.
A state-transition Markov model was employed to assess the cost-effectiveness of hearing aid utilization from a societal perspective. We simulated a cohort of patients aged 50, tracking their progression through normal, mild, moderate, and severe stages of hearing loss until death or age 80. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) per quality-adjusted life year gained was determined using both published and calculated data on the costs and effectiveness of hearing aids.
The respective ICERs were $8,571 for men and $10,635 for women. These figures are significantly below the willingness-to-pay (WTP) threshold of $31,721, which corresponds to the per capita gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020. The probabilities of cost-effectiveness were 83.6% for men and 73.4% for women at this WTP threshold. The lower ICERs observed in men can likely be attributed to the earlier onset of hearing loss and the rapid progression from normal, mild, moderate, and severe stages of hearing loss to death.
Hearing aids represent a highly cost-effective intervention for adults aged 50 and older in Korea, regardless of the degree of hearing loss, even in mild cases. In light of the rapidly aging population, it would be prudent for government policymakers to consider the cost-effectiveness of hearing aids in their decision-making processes.
本研究评估了韩国50岁及以上不同听力损失程度的个体使用助听器的成本效益。
采用状态转换马尔可夫模型从社会角度评估使用助听器的成本效益。我们模拟了一组50岁的患者，追踪他们从听力正常、轻度、中度到重度听力损失阶段的进展，直至死亡或80岁。使用已发表和计算得出的关于助听器成本和效果的数据，确定每获得一个质量调整生命年的增量成本效益比（ICER）。
男性的ICER分别为8571美元，女性为10635美元。这些数字显著低于2020年人均国内生产总值（GDP）31721美元的支付意愿（WTP）阈值。在此WTP阈值下，男性的成本效益概率为83.6%，女性为73.4%。男性中观察到的较低ICER可能归因于听力损失发病较早，以及从听力正常、轻度、中度到重度听力损失阶段直至死亡的快速进展。
在韩国，助听器对50岁及以上的成年人来说是一种极具成本效益的干预措施，无论听力损失程度如何，即使在轻度病例中也是如此。鉴于人口迅速老龄化，政府政策制定者在决策过程中考虑助听器的成本效益是明智的。
