Economic Cost of Asthma and Psychiatric Morbidity in Nigerian Patients with Asthma.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Asthma is known to constitute a huge economic burden to its sufferers and their carers. There is a dearth of studies documenting this burden among asthmatics in Nigeria. OBJECTIVE: This study assessed the relationship between economic cost and psychiatric morbidity among stable Nigerian patients with asthma. METHODS: 85 patients with asthma completed a socio-demographic and illness-related questionnaire, the modified Economic Cost Questionnaire and General Health Questionnaire 12 (GHQ 12). Associations between socio-demographic characteristics, illness related variables, psychiatric morbidity and the direct, indirect and total costs in relation to asthma were assessed. RESULTS: The average annual total, direct and indirect cost were $309, $190.65 and $118.34 respectively per patient for subjects with asthma. Direct cost constituted 62.7% while the indirect cost was 38.3% of the total cost for asthma. Drugs and hospitalisation were leading contributors to direct costs for asthma. Psychiatric morbidity was found to be present in 35% of subjects with asthma, those with psychiatric morbidity had a higher economic burden. CONCLUSION: The economic cost of asthma is high, psychiatric morbidity increases this cost. The cost is largely due to drugs and hospitalisations for exacerbation. There is an urgent need to optimize means of helping to minimize this cost and increase measures for detecting and treating psychiatric morbidity.