title: Out-of-pocket costs associated with rotavirus gastroenteritis requiring hospitalization in Malaysia.
abstract: From August 2006 to July 2007 a prospective study of out-of-pocket costs incurred by care-givers of children hospitalized for rotavirus gastroenteritis was conducted in a hospital in Malaysia. Data on caretaker out-of-pocket costs were collected from 260 children hospitalized with diarrhoea. A stool sample was collected from 198 of these children of which 46 (23%) were positive for rotavirus by latex agglutination assay. The mean (median; interquartile range) out-of-pocket cost incurred by the care-givers was US$194 (US$169; US$47-738), constituting 26% of average monthly income of the households surveyed. Major components of the cost were hospital expenses (45%) and productivity loss (37%). These findings will allow further assessment of the cost-effectiveness of any future rotavirus immunization program in Malaysia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, University Malaya Medical Centre, 59100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: P F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Chai
authors.forename: W S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D017281:Cost of Illness; D005260:Female; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000191:economics* / Q000821:virology; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008296:Malaysia / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012400:Rotavirus Infections / Q000191:economics*