A longitudinal study on health expenditure in a rural community attached to mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Sewagram, Maharashtra

Abstract

Community based study on health expenditure is a rarity in India. A Rural Community based longitudinal study was undertaken in Jaulgaon village of Maharashtra, with objectives of finding out the health expenditure contributed by direct treatment, related travel and relevant loss of wages with certain pertinent associated factors. 50% of the village population was studied (N = 256) by pre-designed, pre-tested schedule following WHO guidelines. A monthly house to house interview was conducted over 12 months. During study period, 78% study subjects suffered some illness with mean illness episode 1.74/person and 6.37/family without any sex difference. The annual health expenditure of the community was Rs 1,576/family, 4,31/person and 2,42/episode, which was about 4.3% of their income. The major part of the expenditure (82%) was for direct treatment cost, followed by loss of wages (12%) and travel related cost (6%). Expenditure was seen to be significantly associated with family income (P = 0.000) and education (P = 0.006).

Keywords

• Health expenditure
• Maharashtra
• Rural community