Balancing societal costs and users' quality of life—priority setting of interventions for the hard-of-hearing

Abstract

In this paper, the need for priority setting in rehabilitation, especially in audiology, and various approaches to providing information for priority setting are discussed. A set of outcome measures is proposed, and their applicability to vertical and horizontal prioritization are considered. Two types of measures are proposed: individual problems assessment, and utility analysis. Results from a European multicentre study and a Swedish study illustrate the performance of the measures in the areas of mobility, hearing, and speech communication. For rehabilitation in the hard-of-hearing, the two types of measures provide different kinds of information, illustrated by the results of simultaneous use of the instruments.

Key Words:

• Hearing devices
• Cost-effectiveness
• Priority setting Outcomes
• Quality of life