Costs and Consequences of a Prosthesis With an Electronically Stance and Swing Phase Controlled Knee Joint
By Seelen, H.A.M.; Hemmen, B.; Schmeets, A.J.; Ament, A.J.H.A.; Evers, S.M.A.A.; Technology and Disability, Vol. 21, No. 1-2, pp. 25-34Publication Date: 2009
Study compared the costs and benefits of an electronically controlled prosthetic knee joint and a non-electronic knee joint for leg amputees. For the evaluations, 26 individuals with unilateral knee/hip disarticulation or transfemoral amputation were recruited from a Dutch rehabilitation center. Thirteen participants wearing a prosthesis featuring a microprocessor-driven knee joint, the C-leg, formed the C-group, while the remaining 13 amputees using a non-electronic knee joint made up the N-group. Direct and indirect costs were established using the PROductivity and DISease Questionnaire (PRODISQ) and database records from the rehabilitation center treating the participants. Intervention costs, health care costs, patient costs, productivity costs, and total costs were calculated. Functional health was measured with the SF-36 questionnaire, and results of the SF-6D, a single index measure of health, were derived from the SF-36 data. Total costs averaged from 39,350 euros in the C-group to 46,086 euros for the N-group. In the C-group, intervention costs were 28.2 percent higher as were prosthetics costs. Patient costs amounted to 7,094 euros in the C-group and 12,992 euros in the N-group. In the N-group, housekeeping assistance cost 4,058 more, and productivity loss was higher. SF-6D scores and SF-36 subscores were higher in the C-group. The authors conclude that higher purchasing costs for prostheses with a microprocessor-controlled knee joint seem to be counterbalanced by lower costs in other domains, while functional health was clearly higher in the C-group.
Assistive Products Discussed: C-LEG (MODEL 3C100)
Published by: IOS Press (Website:http://www.iospress.nl)
Association for the Advancement of Assistive Technology in Europe (AAATE) (Web Site: http://www.aaate.net )
Link to text: http://iospress.metapress.com/content/92862r25xm6817gx/
