COST OF ILLNESS OF TUBERCULOSIS TO PATIENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS IN GONDAR TOWN HEALTH INSTITUTIONS, NORTH GONDAR ZONE, NORTH WEST ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Introduction: Tuberculosis is a major global health problem worldwide. It causes ill-health among millions of people each year and ranks as the second leading cause of death from an infectious disease worldwide, after the human immune-deficiency virus. The basic underlying condition of any efficient allocation of resource is, knowing the financial cost of the disease. In Ethiopia there is a scarcity of well documented information on the costs of tuberculosis to patients and their families. Objective: To assess the cost of illness of tuberculosis to patients and their families and associated factors in Gondar town Health institutions, North West Ethiopia. Methods: A cross sectional study was undertaken from March to June 2014 in Gondar town health institutions. Data were collected from 245 tuberculosis patients by using a structured questionnaire. Numerical summary measures were used to describe the data. Binary logistic regression was applied to see the association of cost of illness of tuberculosis with socio- economic and demographic characteristics, and tuberculosis related factors. Odds ratio with 95% confidence interval was estimated using multivariate logistic regression model to identify predictors of cost of illness of tuberculosis. Results: The mean direct and indirect cost of tuberculosis to outpatients and their families were 1064.90 Birr and 5142.60 Birr respectively and the mean direct and indirect cost of tuberculosis were 1290.10 Birr and 3154.50 Birr respectively at the time of the study. Educational status with AOR= 2.236, 95% CI (1.075, 5.035), visiting of other health providers with AOR= 0.019, 95% CI (0.002, 0.216), marital status with AOR= 0.287, 95% CI (0.120, 0.690) and gender with AOR= 0.180, 95% CI (0.045, 0.723) were found to be predictors of direct and indirect cost of tuberculosis.