The Costs for Different Voice Prostheses Depending on the Lifetime

Background: Voice prostheses are available in different types of architecture und from different producers. Especially the ones with antifungal properties are characterized by a high pricing. The aim of this paper is to check, whether these prices are reflected by the prosthesis life time. Material and Methods: A Benchmarking with usage of mean lifetime and prosthesis costs. Comparing Provox 1, Provox 2, Provox Vega, Provox ActiValve, ESKA-Herrmann, Blom Singer Classic, Phonax, Blom Singer Advantage. Results: The voice prosthesis Provox 1 offers the best price-lifetime-ratio (1.0). It's 6.7-times higher than the one of the Provox ActiValve (0.15). In addition, the classic prostheses Provox 2 (0.53), Blom Singer Classic (0.54) and ESKA-Herrmann (0.72) offer a good ratio compared to Provox 1, too. Conclusion: The mean lifetime of the voice prostheses do not reflect the pricing. The Provox 1 offers the best ratio and should be used as a reference in pricing the prostheses.