Out-of-pocket and catastrophic expenses in households of patients with schizophrenia lacking social security

Abstract

Objective. To estimate the magnitude of out-of-pocket (OOP) and catastrophic health expenses as well as impo­verishment experienced by households of schizophrenia patients lacking social security coverage. Materials and methods. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 96 individuals treated outpatient consultation between February and December 2018, in a psychiatric hospital. Results. All households sustained OOP health expenses; the median was 510 USD (95%CI: 456-628). The OOP expenses represented 28 and 4% of the capacity to pay of poor and rich households, respectively. The 16% of households incurred catastrophic expenses and 6.6% have impoverishment for health reasons. Conclusions. Our results illustrate that pocket expenses and catastrophic expenses in patients with schizophrenia are higher than those reported for the general population. There­fore, it is necessary to rethink the financial protection policies aimed at patients with schizophrenia and their households.

Keywords

• out-of-pocket expenses
• catastrophic expenses
• impoverishment
• schizophrenia