LAUSR

Abstract Introduction Community acquired pneumonia (CAP) is among the leading causes of death in children under 5years of age worldwide. In India 15% of child mortality is due to CAP. Aim and objectives To enumerate direct and indirect medical expenditures and out of pocket expenditure incurred by parents and to calculate spending burden ratio (SBR) in hospitalized children of severe CAP under 5years of age. Methodology Prospective observational study conducted in a tertiary care, teaching hospital in India from September 2015 to August 2016 in children aged 1 month to 59 months hospitalized for WHO defined severe CAP. Included were cases treated on any of the following four regimens in first 48h of admission: Amoxicillin-clavulanate(AC) only, Amoxycillin-clavulanate(AC) with aminoglycoside(A), 3rd generation cephalosporin(3GC) only and 3rd generation cephalosporin plus vancomycin (3GC+V). Clinical and expenditure data was abstracted from hospital chart review and from expenditure diary maintained by parents. SBR was calculated by dividing out of pocket expenditure by mean monthly income of family. Results Out of 100 CAP patients recruited (66% were Conclusion In hospitalized children with CAP, Direct medical expenditure is driven by expenses on drugs and hospital charges.Therefore, reducing these would reduce total medical expenditure and thus financial burden on families of uninsured patients.