Description
Background: Beyond its impact on health, COVID-19 has inflicted significant consequences on household economies. Despite the Government of Nepal's various initiatives, patients have been burdened with exorbitant medical bills, surpassing their financial means. This has imposed a substantial financial strain on vulnerable households, encompassing not only the costs of obtaining treatment but also the loss of productivity and wages.
Objective: To determine financial burden of COVID-19 and its associated factors in Nepal.
Methods: A cost descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from patient perspective. The study was conducted telephonically among 370 patients and/or their caretaker who were at least one time RT-PCR test positive and hospitalized from second and third wave in Nepal. We assessed factors associated with medical cost of COVID-19 treatment services using multivariate linear regression.
Results: The mean, median direct medical and non-medical cost were 1255.7 USD, 79.2 USD and 583.4 USD, 45.1 USD respectively. The mean medical expenses were associated with presence of co-morbidity (β coefficient:494.09$, 95% CI 4.9-983.2, p=0.04) after adjusting for socio-demographic variables, ICU requirement (β coefficient :1884.3$, 95% CI 107.6-2692.4, p<0.001) adjusting for socio-demographic variables, severity, co-morbidities and hospital characteristics, length of hospital stay (β coefficient: 46.4$ 95%CI, 15.08-77.8, p=0.004) adjusting for socio-demographic variables, severity, co-morbidities and hospital characteristics, and admission to private hospital (β coefficient:1740.4$,95 % CI 1365.05-2115.9, p<0.01), adjusting for socio-demographic variables, severity, co-morbidities, hospital characteristics.
Conclusion: The study's findings will offer decision-makers robust and dependable information. This, in turn, will facilitate resource allocation prioritization, the formulation of diverse policies and programs, and the strategic emphasis on prioritizing cost-effective preventive measures.
Key words: COVID-19, coronavirus, financial burden, Nepal
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