Cost‐effectiveness of intracytoplasmic sperm injection in comparison with donor insemination

Abstract

Due to the need for cost containment in the national health services in many countries, there is a demand for analysis of both medical and cost benefits of new technologies. Intracytoplasmic sperm injection has in recent years been proved to be the method of choice for treating severe infertility. It also needs to be shown that intracytoplasmic sperm injection is a cost-effective treatment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of intracytoplasmic sperm injection over a two-year period and to compare it with the cost-effectiveness of donor insemination. The mean direct and indirect costs of the two modes of treatment were compared with the outcome of the subsequent pregnancies and the cost per delivery in the two groups were calculated. The cost analysis showed a direct and indirect cost per delivery after intracytoplasmic sperm injection of 264.300 SEK in 1993, decreasing to 174.900 SEK in 1994. The corresponding cost of donor insemination was 88.900 SEK during the two-year period. The cost analysis showed a 34% increase in cost-effectiveness of intracytoplasmic sperm injection from the first to the second year, an increase that will most probably continue. In the near future intracytoplasmic sperm injection will be a cost-effective treatment and, in addition, intracytoplasmic sperm injection will have the advantage of resulting in genetic children in a majority of the treated couples suffering from severe male subfertility.