Direct cost of illness for dengue in hospitalized children and adults at a referral hospital in India

Abstract

Objectives: To describe the direct cost of illness in pediatric and adult inpatients at a referral hospital in India.

Methods: Inpatients who tested positive for dengue were identified in the hospital records of a single private non-profit hospital over a period of 1 year and line-listed. Hospital discharge bills were obtained for pediatric and adult patients and the median costs by severity of illness for bed and treatment were estimated. Costs were also converted to US dollars (1 USD=64.6 Indian rupees (INR)).

Results: The median and interquartile range (IQR) direct costs for pediatric dengue without warning signs, dengue with warning signs, and severe dengue were 179.80 (IQR 85.51-428.51) USD, 145.06 (IQR 90.89-321.86) USD, and 933.51 (IQR 400.50-1117.43) USD, respectively. The median and IQR direct costs for adult dengue without warning signs, dengue with warning signs, and severe dengue were 312.75 (IQR 174.55-531.03) USD, 287.22 (IQR 210.96-389.34) USD, and 720.39 (IQR 389.23-1035.51) USD, respectively.

Conclusions: Children and adults with dengue incur high costs when hospitalized for dengue. Since most medical costs in India are out-of-pocket expenses, these illnesses can impact households.

Keywords: Dengue; Economic burden; India.