TO FIND THE COST OF TREATMENT OF CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE IN PAKISTAN INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES (PIMS), ISLAMABAD.

Abstract

Background: Cardiovascular diseases are the leading global cause of mortality, accounting for 17.3 million deaths every year, a number that is guessed to grow to 23.6 million by 2030. A cross sectional study was conducted in the Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery Units of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences. Material & Methods: Universal sampling size and convenient sampling were employed, two weeks exit interviews were conducted to find the Out of Pocket expenditure of cardiovascular disease. Duration of the study was 4 months. Exclusion and inclusion criteria were followed. There were total 62 respondents who were mostly attendants of the patients who volunteered and filled the given out of pocket questionnaires successfully. Results: Out of these 62 respondents 36 (58.8%) were male while the remaining 26 (41.9%) were female respondents. Their education status was assessed. Most of the respondents had completed matriculation. It was found that with the increase in age, the cost of treatment of cardiovascular disease also increased. Most of the households were poor and poverty stricken and not in the position to bear the cost of treatment of cardiovascular disease and hence faced the threat of falling into the trap of catastrophic health expenditure. Conclusion: The study concluded that income of the most people (patients included in the study) is not sufficient to pay for the healthcare services. After careful analyses, it seems that those people who had very low income were unable to access and avail the healthcare services provided in the government tertiary care hospital. Key Words: - Out of pocket, burden of cardiovascular disease, catastrophic expenditures,