Study Results from Mekelle University Broaden Understanding of Life Science Research (The effect of community based health insurance on catastrophic health expenditure in Northeast Ethiopia: A cross sectional study)

2019 JUL 08 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Investigators publish new report on Life Science Research. According to news reporting out of Mekelle, Ethiopia, by NewsRx editors, research stated, “Moving towards the goal of universal health coverage requires strengthening service delivery and overcoming significant financial barriers. The Government of Ethiopia is rolling out community based health insurance to protect the rural community from high out of pocket health expenditure and improve health service utilization.”

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Mekelle University, “We investigated the effect of community based health insurance on catastrophic health expenditure in Northeast Ethiopia. A community based cross sectional study was conducted. A Multi stage sampling technique was used to get a total of 454 (224 insured and 230 uninsured) households. The data were entered using EPI info version 7 and analyzed using SPSS version 20 and STATA version 13 for binary logistic regression analysis and propensity score matching analysis respectively. Wealth status of the households was computed by Principal Component Analysis (PCA). A multivariable logistic regression analysis was done to identify the predictors of catastrophic health expenditure. Propensity score matching analysis was used to determine the effect of community based health insurance on catastrophic health expenditure. The average treatment effect on the treated (ATT) was calculated to compare the means of outcomes across insured and uninsured households. A total of 454 household heads were included in the study, making a response rate of 91.2%. The total level of catastrophic health expenditure was found to be 20%. Among the households with catastrophic health expenditure, 4.41% were insured, whereas the remaining 15.64% were noninsured. Insured households (AOR = 0.19, 95% CI: 0.11-0.34), rich households (AOR = 1.98; 95% CI: 1.07-3.66), having member with chronic illness (AOR = 2.13, 95% CI: 1.01-4.51) and having member encountered any illness during the past 3 months (AOR = 2.44, 95% CI: 1.35-4.40) were statistically associated with catastrophic health expenditure. Community based health insurance contributed to 23.2% (t = -5.94) (95% CI: -0.31_-0.15) reduction of catastrophic health expenditure. The overall level of catastrophic health expenditure was high among noninsured households. Community based health insurance has significant financial protection from catastrophic health expenditure in northeast Ethiopia.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Thus, the government need to scale up community based health insurance to protect the noninsured households from catastrophic health expenditure.”

For more information on this research see: The effect of community based health insurance on catastrophic health expenditure in Northeast Ethiopia: A cross sectional study. PLOS ONE, 2018;13(10):e0205972. PLOS ONE can be contacted at: Public Library Science, 1160 Battery Street, Ste 100, San Francisco, CA 94111, USA. (Public Library of Science - www.plos.org; PLOS ONE - www.plosone.org)

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting M.G. Gebregziabher, Mekelle University, College of Health and Science, School of Public Health, Dept. of Health Systems, Mekelle, Ethiopia. Additional authors for this research include A.M. Mekonen and A.S. Teferra.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0205972. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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