Care-Seeking Patterns and Direct Economic Burden of Injuries in Bangladesh

Yira Natalia Alfonso, Olakunle Alonge, Dewan Md Emdadul Hoque, Md Kamran Ul Baset, Adnan A. Hyder and David Bishai ()
Additional contact information
Yira Natalia Alfonso: Department of Population Family and Reproductive health, International Injury Research Unit, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Olakunle Alonge: Department of International Health, International Injury Research Unit, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Dewan Md Emdadul Hoque: Maternal and Child Health Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research Bangladesh, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Md Kamran Ul Baset: Centre for Injury Prevention and Research, Dhaka 1206, Bangladesh
Adnan A. Hyder: Department of International Health, International Injury Research Unit, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA

IJERPH, 2017, vol. 14, issue 5, 1-9

Abstract: This study provides a comprehensive review of the care-seeking patterns and direct economic burden of injuries from the victims’ perspective in rural Bangladesh using a 2013 household survey covering 1.17 million people. Descriptive statistics and bivariate analyses were used to derive rates and test the association between variables. An analytic model was used to estimate total injury out-of-pocket (OOP) payments and a multivariate probit regression model assessed the relationship between financial distress and injury type. Results show non-fatal injuries occur to 1 in 5 people in our sample per year. With average household size of 4.5 in Bangladesh--every household has an injury every year. Most non-fatally injured patients sought healthcare from drug sellers. Less than half of fatal injuries sought healthcare and half of those with care were hospitalized. Average OOP payments varied significantly (range: $8–$830) by injury type and outcome (fatal vs. non-fatal). Total injury OOP expenditure was $355,795 and $5000 for non-fatal and fatal injuries, respectively, per 100,000 people. The majority of household heads with injuries reported financial distress. This study can inform injury prevention advocates on disparities in healthcare usage, OOP costs and financial distress. Reallocation of resources to the most at risk populations can accelerate reduction of preventable injuries and prevent injury related catastrophic payments and impoverishment.

Keywords: injuries; cost; out-of-pocket; economic burden; care-seeking patterns; low-and-middle-income countries; Bangladesh (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/14/5/472/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/14/5/472/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:14:y:2017:i:5:p:472-:d:97147

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().