title: Household Health Costs: Direct, Indirect and Intangible.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study aimed at identifying components of the household health costs.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study was a qualitative research conducted in two main phases. The first phase consisted of interviews with sample households selected in eight provinces of Iran. They were to identify components of the household health costs. In the second phase, components were determined as direct, indirect and intangible based on a content analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the first phase of the study, 93 components of households' health costs were identified. According to the content analysis, 44 components were categorized as direct costs, 10 components were indirect and 39 components were categorized as intangible.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  All components of households' health costs including: direct, indirect and intangible costs, should be considered in the planning and policy-making in the health system.
authors.affiliation: 1. Dept. of Health Economics and Management Sciences, School of Health, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences , Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yousefi
authors.affiliation: 2. Dept. of Development and Economic Planning, School of Management and Economics, Tarbiat Modares University , Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Abbas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Assari Arani
authors.affiliation: 3. Dept. of Economics, School of Management and Economics, Tarbiat Modares University , Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Bahram
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sahabi
authors.affiliation: 4. Dept. of Biostatistics, School of Medicine, Tarbiat Modares University , Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Anoshirvan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kazemnejad
authors.affiliation: 5. Dept. of Medical Records, School of Paramedical Sciences, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences , Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Somayeh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fazaeli
keywords: Direct costs; Household health costs; Indirect costs; Intangible cost