Cost-effectiveness of cataract surgery.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To review the changes in the cost-effectiveness of cataract surgery in the last few decades.

RECENT FINDINGS: Cataract surgery is the commonly performed procedure and it has evolved through various techniques, namely extracapsular cataract extraction, phacoemulsification and small or microincision cataract surgery. In this article we have reviewed the healthcare variant analysis, mainly the cost-effectiveness and cost utility over the past few years.

SUMMARY: Cost-effectiveness implies the economic analysis of relative costs and practical outcomes after cataract surgery. Cost utility is typically in terms of cost per quality-adjusted life-year gained. Cost-utility values for cataract surgery for first eye varied from US$245 to US$22000/QALY in Western countries and from US$9 to US$1600 in developing countries. There are two methods that have been used to calculate the cost utility namely the costs that are discounted at 3% for 12 years and discounted at 3% for 5 years.