부산대학교 도서관

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused unprecedented harm to humanity and economies worldwide. A study of economic impact of COVID-19 patients in urban slums is limited. Aims: Hence, this study was undertaken to estimate the out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE), and compare amongst admissions in public and private hospitals and home isolation of COVID-19 patients. Patients and Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in urban slums under the urban field practice area of a medical college between September 2021 and November 2021. Data from 108 COVID-19 patients were collected by a pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire by interview method. Results: The mean age of respondents was 41.99 ± 10.49. The most common symptom was fever 91.6%, followed by cough 69.4%. History of travel was present in 64% and contact with family member was 69%. The mean OOPE for COVID-19 disease was 36756 INR per patient. Overall, the mean direct cost for COVID-19 admission was 29143 INR and mean indirect cost was 7529.62 INR. On applying Krushkal Wallis test, OOPE for direct cost on COVID-19 patient hospital admission, lab investigations, medications was H=65.85, 53.52, 28.98 with P value< 0.05 respectively and was found statististically significant. Similarly for Indirect cost , Loss of wages, travel expenses of the patient and attenders was H=10.45, 31.23 respectively and was found to be statistically significant at P