title: Exploring household economic impacts of childhood diarrheal illnesses in 3 African settings.
abstract: Beyond the morbidity and mortality burden of childhood diarrhea in sub-Saharan African are significant economic costs to affected households. Using survey data from 3 of the 4 sites in sub-Saharan Africa (Gambia, Kenya, Mali) participating in the Global Enteric Multicenter Study (GEMS), we estimated the direct medical, direct nonmedical, and indirect (productivity losses) costs borne by households due to diarrhea in young children. Mean cost per episode was $2.63 in Gambia, $6.24 in Kenya, and $4.11 in Mali. Direct medical costs accounted for less than half of these costs. Mean costs understate the distribution of costs, with 10% of cases exceeding $6.50, $11.05, and $13.84 in Gambia, Kenya, and Mali. In all countries there was a trend toward lower costs among poorer households and in 2 of the countries for diarrheal illness affecting girls. For poor children and girls, this may reflect reduced household investment in care, which may result in increased risks of mortality.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental and Global Health, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA. rrheing@ufl.edu
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rheingans
authors.forename: Matt
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kukla
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Adegbola
authors.forename: Debasish
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Saha
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Omore
authors.forename: Robert F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Breiman
authors.forename: Samba O
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Sow
authors.forename: Uma
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Onwuchekwa
authors.forename: Dilruba
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nasrin
authors.forename: Tamer H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Farag
authors.forename: Karen L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Kotloff
authors.forename: Myron M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Levine
mesh_terms: D017954:Africa South of the Sahara / Q000453:epidemiology; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002675:Child, Preschool; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors