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Investigating the exposure of Iranian households to catastrophic health expenditure due to the need to purchase medicines.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) is an indicator used by the World Health Organization (WHO) to assess equity in households' payments to the health system. In this paper, we prospectively calculated the population at risk of facing catastrophic expenditure due to purchasing three selected medicines (metformin, atorvastatin and amoxicillin) in Iran. METHOD:This study draws on the data set of the Iranian National Household Survey of 38244 households in Iran. CHE was calculated based on "capacity to pay" using different thresholds. RESULTS:20, 16 and 3 households had to spend more than 40% of their capacity to pay on amoxicillin, atorvastatin and metformin respectively. Lowest priced generic (LPG) medicines were found more affordable than the original brand (OB) medicines. Age, literacy and gender of head of household, economic status, settlement, size and number of breadwinners in the households share important association with CHE. CONCLUSION:Requirement of these specific medicines for long-term may subject the Iranian households to CHE. The study demonstrates important and specific insights for health policy makers in Iran to protect the households from healthcare catastrophes.

SUBMITTER: Amiresmaili M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6485892 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Investigating the exposure of Iranian households to catastrophic health expenditure due to the need to purchase medicines.

Amiresmaili Mohammadreza M Amiresmaili Mohammadreza M Emrani Zahra Z

PloS one 20190426 4

<h4>Background</h4>Catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) is an indicator used by the World Health Organization (WHO) to assess equity in households' payments to the health system. In this paper, we prospectively calculated the population at risk of facing catastrophic expenditure due to purchasing three selected medicines (metformin, atorvastatin and amoxicillin) in Iran.<h4>Method</h4>This study draws on the data set of the Iranian National Household Survey of 38244 households in Iran. CHE was ...[more]

PMID: 31026261

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Project description:IntroductionSmoking is hazardous to health and places a heavy economic burden on individuals and their families. Clearly, smoking in China is prevalent since China is the largest consumer of tobacco in the world. Chinese smoking and nonsmoking households were compared in terms of the incidence and intensity of Catastrophic Health Expenditures (CHEs). The factors associated with catastrophic health expenditures were analyzed.MethodsData for this study were collected from two waves of panel data in 2011 and 2013 from the national China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). A total of 8073 households with at least one member aged above 45 were identified each year. Catastrophic health expenditure was measured by the ratio of a household's out-of-pocket healthcare payments (OOP) to the household's Capacity to Pay (CTP). A panel logit random-effects model was used to examine correlates with catastrophic health expenditure.ResultsThe incidence of catastrophic health expenditures for Chinese households with members aged 45 and above in 2011 and 2013 were 12.99% and 15.56%, respectively. The mean gaps (MGs) were 3.16% and 4.88%, respectively, and the mean positive gaps (MPGs) were 24.36% and 31.40%, respectively. The incidences of catastrophic health expenditures were 17.41% and 20.03% in former smoking households, 12.10% and 15.09% in current smoking households, and 12.72% and 13.64% in nonsmoking households. In the panel logit regression model analysis, former smoking households (OR = 1.444, P<0.001) were more prone to catastrophic health expenditures than nonsmoking households. Risk factors for catastrophic health expenditures included members with chronic diseases (OR = 4.359, P<0.001), hospitalized patients (OR = 8.60, P<0.001), elderly people aged above 65 (OR = 1.577, P<0.001), or persons with disabilities (OR = 1.275, P<0.001). Protective factors for catastrophic health expenditures included being in an urban household, having a larger family size, and having a higher household income.ConclusionsThe incidence of catastrophic health expenditures in Chinese households is relatively high. Smoking is one of the primary risk factors for catastrophic health expenditures. Stronger interventions against smoking should be made in time to reduce the occurrence of health issues caused by smoking and the financial losses for individuals, families and society.

Project description:BackgroundWhile healthcare costs for rotavirus gastroenteritis requiring hospitalization may be burdensome on households in Malaysia, exploration on the distribution and catastrophic impact of these expenses on households are lacking.ObjectivesWe assessed the economic burden, levels and distribution of catastrophic healthcare expenditure, the poverty impact on households and inequities related to healthcare payments for acute gastroenteritis requiring hospitalization in Malaysia.MethodsA two-year prospective, hospital-based study was conducted from 2008 to 2010 in an urban (Kuala Lumpur) and rural (Kuala Terengganu) setting in Malaysia. All children under the age of 5 years admitted for acute gastroenteritis were included. Patients were screened for rotavirus and information on healthcare expenditure was obtained.ResultsOf the 658 stool samples collected at both centers, 248 (38%) were positive for rotavirus. Direct and indirect costs incurred were significantly higher in Kuala Lumpur compared with Kuala Terengganu (US$222 Vs. US$45; p<0.001). The mean direct and indirect costs for rotavirus gastroenteritis consisted 20% of monthly household income in Kuala Lumpur, as compared with only 5% in Kuala Terengganu. Direct medical costs paid out-of-pocket caused 141 (33%) households in Kuala Lumpur to experience catastrophic expenditure and 11 (3%) households to incur poverty. However in Kuala Terengganu, only one household (0.5%) experienced catastrophic healthcare expenditure and none were impoverished. The lowest income quintile in Kuala Lumpur was more likely to experience catastrophic payments compared to the highest quintile (87% vs 8%). The concentration index for out-of-pocket healthcare payments was closer to zero at Kuala Lumpur (0.03) than at Kuala Terengganu (0.24).ConclusionsWhile urban households were wealthier, healthcare expenditure due to gastroenteritis had more catastrophic and poverty impact on the urban poor. Universal rotavirus vaccination would reduce both disease burden and health inequities in Malaysia.

Project description:BackgroundThe extent of catastrophic health expenditure and impoverishment associated with depression in low-and middle-income countries is not known. The aim of this study was to estimate the incidence and intensity of catastrophic out-of-pocket (OOP) health expenditure, level of impoverishment and coping strategies used by households of persons with and without depression in a rural Ethiopian district.MethodsA comparative cross-sectional survey was conducted, including 128 households of persons with depression and 129 households without. Depression screening was conducted using the Patient Health Questionnaire, nine item version (PHQ-9). People in the depression group were classified into high and low disability groups based on the median value on the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS) polytomous summary score. Health expenditure greater than thresholds of 10 and 25% of total household consumption was used for the primary analyses. The poverty headcount, poverty gap and normalized poverty gap were estimated using retrospective recall of total household expenditure pre- and post-OOP payments for health care. Linear probability model using binreg command in STATA with rr option was used to estimate risk ratio for the occurrence of outcomes among households with and without depression based on level of disability.ResultsCatastrophic OOP payments at any threshold level for households with depression and high disability were higher than control households. At the 10% threshold level, 24.0% of households of persons with depression and high disability faced catastrophic payments compared with 15.3% for depression and low disability and 12.1% for control households (p = 0.041). Depression and high disability level was an independent predictor of catastrophic OOP payments: RR 2.1; 95% CI:1.1, 4.6. An estimated 5.8% of households of persons with depression and high disability were pushed into poverty because of paying for health care compared with 3.5% for households of persons with depression and low disability and 2.3% for control households (p = 0.039).ConclusionsHouseholds of people with depression and high disability were more likely to face catastrophic expenditures and impoverishment from OOP payments. Financial protection interventions through prepayment schemes, exemptions and fee waiver strategies need to target households of persons with depression.

Project description:BackgroundDental healthcare is the costliest and single most source of the financial barrier to seeking and use of needed healthcare. Hence, this study aims to analyses impact of out-of-pocket (OOP) payments for dental services on prevalence catastrophic healthcare expenditure (CHE) among Iranian households during 2018.MethodsWe performed a cross-sectional analysis to determine the prevalence rate of CHE due to use of dental healthcare services among 38,858 Iranian households using the 2018 Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) survey data of Iran. The WHO approach was used to determine the CHE due to use of dental care services at the 40% of household capacity to pay (CTP). Multiple logistic regression models were used to obtain the odds of facing with CHE among households that paid for any dental healthcare services over the last month while adjusting for covariates included in the model. These findings were reported for urban, rural areas and also for low, middle and high human development index HDI across provinces.ResultsThe study indicated that the prevalence of CHE among households that used and did not used dental services over the last month was 16.5% (95% CI: 14.9 to 18.3) and 4.3% (95% CI: 4.1 to 4.6), respectively. The adjusted odds ratio (AOR) for the covariates revealed that the prevalence of CHE for the overall households that used dental healthcare service was 6.2 times (95% CI: 5.4 to 7.1) than those that did not use dental healthcare services. The urban households that used dental healthcare had 7.8 times (95%CI: 6.4-9.4) while the rural ones had 4.7 times (95% CI: 3.7-5.7) higher odds of facing CHE than the corresponding households that did not use dental healthcare services.ConclusionsThe study indicates that out-of-pocket costs for dental care services impose a substantial financial burden on household's budgets at the national and subnational levels. Alternative health care financing strategies and policies targeted to the reduction in CHE in general and CHE due to dental services in particular are urgently required in low and middle income countries such as Iran.

Project description:Rising non-communicable diseases (NCDs) coupled with increasing injuries have resulted in a significant increase in health spending in India. While out-of-pocket expenditure remains the major source of health care financing in India (two-thirds of the total health spending), the financial burden varies enormously across diseases and by the economic well-being of the households. Though prior studies have examined the variation in disease pattern, little is known about the financial risk to the families by type of diseases in India. In this context, the present study examines disease-specific out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE), catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) and distress health financing.Unit data from the 71st round of the National Sample Survey Organization (2014) was used for this study. OOPE is defined as health spending on hospitalization net of reimbursement, and CHE is defined as household health spending exceeding 10% of household consumption expenditure. Distress health financing is defined as a situation when a household has to borrow money or sell their property/assets or when it gets contributions from friends/relatives to meet its health care expenses. OOPE was estimated for 16 selected diseases and across three broad categories- communicable diseases, NCDs and injuries. Multivariate logistic regression was used to understand the determinants of distress financing and CHE.Mean OOPE on hospitalization was INR 19,210 and was the highest for cancer (INR 57,232) followed by heart diseases (INR 40,947). About 28% of the households incurred CHE and faced distress financing. Among all the diseases, cancer caused the highest CHE (79%) and distress financing (43%). More than one-third of the inpatients reported distressed financing for heart diseases, neurological disorders, genito urinary problems, musculoskeletal diseases, gastro-intestinal problems and injuries. The likelihood of incurring distress financing was 3.2 times higher for those hospitalized for cancer (OR 3.23; 95% CI: 2.62-3.99) and 2.6 times for tuberculosis patients (OR 2.61; 95% CI: 2.06-3.31). A large proportion of households who had reported distress financing also incurred CHE.Free treatment for cancer and heart diseases is recommended for the vulnerable sections of the society. Risk-pooling and social security mechanisms based on contributions from both households as well as the central and state governments can reduce the financial burden of diseases and avert households from distress health financing.

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Investigating the exposure of Iranian households to catastrophic health expenditure due to the need to purchase medicines.

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Investigating the exposure of Iranian households to catastrophic health expenditure due to the need to purchase medicines.

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