An Estimate of Average Cost of Hypertension and its catastrophic effect on the people living with hypertension: Patients’ perception from two Hospitals in Abuja, Nigeria

Abstract

Purpose of the study: The study was motivated by the high prevalence of hypertension and its associated costs of financing drugs to treating the disease. Hypertension has become a source of worry to the sufferers and caregivers given its direct and indirect cost implications. The study specifically estimated the direct average cost of treating hypertension and verified its catastrophic effect on the sufferers in Nigeria. Methodology: To achieve the objective, the study undertook the review of related literature on the burden of hypertension. It utilized the primary method of data collection by administering structured questionnaires to the target respondents in the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital and National Hospital, Abuja, Nigeria. Data were descriptively analyzed using frequency and percentage with the aid of SPSS version 22. Main findings: The result revealed that the average annual cost attributable to hypertension treatment is N145, 086.12 per patient. The study documented that 191(82 percent) patients undertook personal health spending. Hypertension financing was discovered to be catastrophic among 30.5 percent of the least income patients. Therefore, it concluded that the average cost of treating hypertension was high among urban dwellers and catastrophic among the least earners. Research Implications: The findings will be relevant for the policy framework for government relating to healthcare financing and the establishment of intervention schemes that will alleviate the burdens associated with hypertension among the sufferers. Health planners and administrators will immensely benefit from the study as the study revealed the knowledge of treating hypertension for planning purposes and reference points for both researchers and academics. Novelty of the study: Knowledge relating to the direct cost of treating hypertension annually for intervention purposes is limited. Therefore, to touch lightly upon this, the study attempted an estimation of the average annual direct cost of treating hypertension and its associated burdens to the sufferers through a survey investigation. Findings, therefore, will advance the existing knowledge on the burden of hypertension and the policy of healthcare interventions.