ECONOMIC VALUE OF INFORMAL CARE FOR DENGUE PATIENTS IN VIETNAM

What is it about?

Despite the recorded economic impact caused by dengue disease in many studies, the scarcity of information about the indirect costs and the out-of-pocket (OOP) remains concern. Thus, this study’s goal concentrated on the scrutiny the underlying economic encumbrance caused by factors in terms of costs of informal care for dengue illness in Vietnam. A cross-sectional study projected towards the hospitalization of diagnosis-confirmed dengue patients in Cu Chi General Hospital located in Ho Chi Minh city, following International Classification of Disease, tenth revision (ICD-10 codes = A90-A91)was conducted from October 2015 to March 2016. A standard administered questionnaire was used to collect data including general information, work time loss and OOP expenses (e.g. food costs, travel and lodging payments…). Regarding the 168 cases of hospitalized patients, 60 (35.7%) of which were children (under 15 years of age) and the remaining 108 (64.3%) were adults (over 15). The average illness lasted 7.8 days (estimated 51 USD) for patients, whereas caregivers lost 7.6 days (24.18 USD) per dengue episode. The mean indirect cost were 75.18 USD and OOP expenses averaged 16.94 USD. Overall, the informal care might cost 15,476.05 USD (1USD = 21,833 VND at August 2016 rates).

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Why is it important?

Costs of informal care for hospitalized dengue patients create a substantial burden of finance on families and country.

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