Economic Burden in Management of Acute Lower Res
piratory Infection, Patients' Perspective : A Case Study
of Takhli District Hospital
TAPANOK RATTANADILOK NA BHUKET, M.D.*, SUNTI NAWANOPARATKUL,M.D.**,
SUBHAREE SUWANJUTHA, M.D.***, PRATUENG TEEYAPAIBOONSILPA, M.D.**
Affiliation : * ARI Section, Department of Communicable Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Bangkok 10120,
**Takhli Hospital, Nakhon Sawan Provincial Health Office, Nakhon Sawan 60000,
***Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand.
AbstractA cross-sectional descriptive study to determine the economic burden in management of
acute lower respiratory infection from the patient's perspective was conducted at Takhli District Hos
pital from March 2000 to February 2001. Information obtained from interviewing caretakers of 165
children with LRI and data collected from medical records revealed the cost per case ranged from
140 to 6,471 baht with an average total cost per case of 1248 baht. The main determinants of the
average total cost per case included the diagnosis of diseases, type of patient (outpatient or inpatient),
wheezing association and respiratory syncytial virus positivity. Children with severe pneumonia
accounted for the highest in the average total cost per case (2,348 baht) while those with bronchitis
accounted for the lowest (924 baht). The average total cost per case of inpatients was 3.5 times higher
than that of outpatients. Health policy efforts to improve the effectiveness of care in an ambulatory
setting may reduce the financial cost of the illness.
Keywords : Economic Burden, Acute Lower Respiratory Tract Infection
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