Table 4
Hospitalization, medication, and diagnostic test costs
Author(s) (year) Country Cost estimate (I$) % Annual per-capita income (entire population) % Annual per-capita income (income-poorest 20% of the population) Notes
Hospitalization costs
Aspler, et al. [41] Zambia 14 3 16 Median costs (IQR I$4- I$19)
Floyd, et al. [51] South Africa 119 3 17a Mean cost of 18-day hospital stay under DOTS (I$7 per day)
Floyd, et al. [51] South Africa 407 11 59a Mean cost of 60-day hospital stay under conventional system (I$7/day)
Floyd, et al. [50] Malawi 498 262 1048 Mean cost of 58-day hospital stay under hospital-based strategy for smear-positive patients (I$9/day)
Floyd, et al. [50] Malawi 138 73 289 Mean cost of 16-day hospital stay under community-based DOTS strategy for smear-positive patients (I$9/day)
Floyd, et al. [50] Malawi 32 17 66 Mean cost of 8-day hospital stay under hospital-based and community-based DOTS strategies for smear-negative patients (I$9/day)
Gibson and Boillot [52] Sierra Leone 1 0.53 2b Mean hospital admission fees at a missionary hospital
Gibson and Boillot [52] Sierra Leone 47 18 58b Mean hospital admission fees at a government hospital
Mesfin, et al. [55] Ethiopia 4 2 5 Mean cost of hospital admissions (median I$0)
Nganda, et al. [60] Kenya 530 101 336c Mean cost of 60-day hospital stay under hospital-based system for smear-positive patients (I$9/ day) (96% CI I$5- I$13)
Nganda, et al. [60] Kenya 34 7 22c Mean cost of 4-day hospital stay under community-based DOTS for smear-positive patients (I$9/ day) (96% CI I$5- I$13)
Okello, et al. [61] Uganda 219 73 240d Mean cost of 60-day hospital stay under conventional hospital-based care strategy for smear-positive patients (I$4/ day)
Okello, et al. [61] Uganda 70 24 77d Mean cost of 19-day hospital stay under community-based care strategy for smear-positive patients (I$4/ day)
Saunderson, P. [31] Uganda 91 39 126 Mean cost for a 2-month hospital stay
Wilkinson, et al. [67] South Africa 139 3.62 20e Mean cost of 17.5-day hospital stay under community-based DOTS strategy (I$8/ day)
Wyss et al. [68] Tanzania 15 5 12f Hospitalization costs reported for one month
Medication costs
Aspler, et al. [41] Zambia 15 3 18 Median costs for additional medications (IQR I$9- I$21)
Awofeso, N. [42] Nigeria 548g 121 589h Mid-range, one-time medication costs (range I$199- I$897)g
Chard, S. [46] Uganda 20 7 22i Mean costs for medications (range I$4- I$37)
Kemp, et al. [54] Malawi 50 27 106j Mean costs for smear-negative patients for user fees and drug costs outside of government health facilities (median I$19)
Kemp, et al. [54] Malawi 18 9 37j Mean costs for smear-positive patients for user fees and drug costs outside of government health facilities (median I$6)
Mesfin, et al. [55] Ethiopia 22 12 25 Mean costs for additional medications (median I$7)
Diagnostic test costs
Aspler, et al. [41] Zambia 7 2 8 Median cost for chest radiographic (IQR I$4-I$7)
Needham, et al. [58] Zambia 9 2 13 Mean cost for diagnostic tests (unspecified) (median I$13)
Wyss, et al. [68] Tanzania 10 3 7f Unit cost for examination, laboratory, and X-rays

a Income share based on 1995 estimates instead of 1994; b Income share assumed to be 6% by authors in absence of World Bank data; c Income share based on 1997 estimates instead of 1998; d Income share based on 1999 estimates instead of 1998; e Income share based on 1995 estimates instead of 1996; f Income share based on 2000 estimates instead of 1996; g Note: the study listed these costs as “prepayment fees,” but the costs were actually for medications. Moreover, these medication costs are reported with imprecision (i.e., a wide range), weakening the strength of the conclusion that TB medication costs were high in Nigeria; h Income share based on 1992 estimates instead of 1993; i Income share based on 1999 estimates instead of 1998; j Income share based on 1998 estimates instead of 2000.

Barter et al. BMC Public Health 2012 12:980   doi:10.1186/1471-2458-12-980

Open Data