Economic burden of acute watery diarrhoea in children aged 6 – 36 months presenting to a tertiary hospital in South-East Nigeria

Abstract

Abstract: Introduction: Globally, acute watery diarrhoea is a major cause of childhood morbidity and mortality. It is the fourth leading cause of death in children contributing as high as 11% of all childhood deaths. In Nigeria, acute watery diarrhoea causes 240,106 deaths per year. Out of pocket expenditure is a major source of healthcare funding in Nigeria, hence treatment of acute watery diarrhoea places extra financial burden on the families especially those in the low socio- economic class.

Objective: To determine the cost of treatment of acute watery diarrhoea in children aged 6 to 36 months.

Methodology: This was a cross- sectional study conducted on children aged 6-36 months who presented with acute watery diarrhoea from January through October 2017. Data obtained using interviewer-administered questionnaire, included socio- demography, duration of illness, treatment cost of the index diarrhoeal episode before presenting to our facility, transportation cost, food and other incidental cost, duration of hospitalization. Diagnostic tests requested and medications prescribed were obtained from the patient’s medical file. Information on drug cost, diagnostic test cost and hospital bed day cost were obtained from Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH) central pharmacy, NAUTH main laboratory and account section respectively. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 was used for data analysis.

Result: Seventy two patients were recruited for the study, of whom 47(65.0%) were males giving a male female ratio of 1.9:1. Forty eight (66.6%) of the study participants belonged to the lower socioeconomic class while 22(30.6%) and 2(2.8%) belonged to the middle and upper socioeconomic class respectively. A mean total treatment cost per diarrhoea episode derived from this study was #37,572.2 ± #12,479.0 which at the time of the study was equivalent to US$ 104.7 ± US$ 34.8. This is well above the then Nigerian minimum monthly wage of 18,000.0 (US$ 50.1). Conclusion: The result of this study showed that the economic burden of acute watery diarrhoea is quite enormous especially to the low socio-economic group. Prevention and improvement of home treatment of diarrhoea may reduce the treatment cost.

Key words: Acute watery diarrhoea, Cost, Children, Hospital