Economic Burden of Accidents and Injuries in India: What Does 75 th Round of National Sample Survey Imply?

BACKGROUND: Accidents and injuries constitute a sizable share of mortality and morbidity in low- and middle-income countries. This affects the most productive age group and increases disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). It results in a substantial financial burden on the households. To explore the economic burden of accidents and Injuries on Indian households and to find how the catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) from accidents and injuries affects the population. Another objective is to explore Catastrophic out-of-pocket expenditures (OOPE) patterns and distressed financing of households in India.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study used data from the 75th round of nationally representative surveys, that is, the National Sample Survey (NSS). Authors have analyzed the data using descriptive binary logistic regression analysis to estimate the rate and average days of hospitalization, average OOPE, and share of the population experiencing the catastrophic impact from the health expenditure separately from the public and private healthcare institutions.

RESULTS: The study observed that hospitalization in the private sector imposes 72% of households incur CHE at more than 10% cut-off and 41% at more than 25% cut-off. In comparison, it is less in the public sector, with 22% of households incurring CHE at more than 10% of annual per capita household income and 9% at more than 25%.

CONCLUSION: The increasing incidence of road traffic accidents (RTA) is a concern for the overstretched health system. The government should provide better healthcare facilities and universal health insurance coverage to ensure patients' speedy recovery and financial security.