Economic evaluation of upper limb prostheses in the Netherlands including the cost-effectiveness of multi-grip versus mono-grip myoelectric hand prostheses

Last decade, the average cost of ULP related healthcare per user in the Netherlands are rising. One of the reasons for this rise seem to be the more frequent prescription of expensive multi-grip myoelectric hand prostheses (MHPs). However, doubts exist about the added value of those MHPs. Therefore the purpose of this study was to investigate the costs, health-related quality of life and user experiences associated with upper limb prosthesis use, and to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of MHPs compared to the standard myoelectric hand prostheses (SHPs). A total of 242 upper limb prosthesis users completed the EQ-5D-5L, the patient-reported outcome measure to assess the preferred usage features of upper limb prostheses (PUF-ULP) and a cost questionnaire (societal perspective). From the 242 included participants, 203 provided an informed consent to reuse their data for future research. The data of the latter group can be requested for research purposes.