ASSESSMENT OF THE COST OF ILLNESS AMONG PATIENTS WITH DIABETIC FOOT ULCER (DFU) IN GENERAL HOSPITAL MINNA, NIGER STATE, NIGERIA

Aisha Umar Alfa, & Ahmad Muhammad Tsauni

Department of Economics,

Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria

Email: tarsabibi@yahoo.com, ahmadutsauni@gmail.com

                               ABSTRACT

The paper examined the cost of illness among patients with Diabetic foot ulcer in General Hospital Minna and was a cross-sectional study involving 40 participants drawn from medical wards and diabetes clinic of General Hospital Minna. Questionnaire was used to collect data that was used to estimate direct medical, direct non-medical and indirect costs of DFU. The mean age for participants was 51.3± 9.1 years. The mean age for Males was 49.6.3±8.4 years while that of females was 58.9±8.7 years. Exactly 30% of participants had tertiary education while 17.5% had Secondary education and 45% do not have formal education and 7.5% had Quranic education. The average monthly income of participants was 25,187.5 Nigerian Naira however, 57.5% of participants had monthly income of 0 – 20000 Nigerian Naira. The total cost of diabetic foot ulcer is 4,526,300 Naira ($9839.8) per annum for the 40 participants. The total direct cost was estimated to be 4,162,400 Naira ($9,048.7). The total indirect cost was 363900 Naira ($791.1). From the findings it may be concluded that the treatment of diabetic foot ulcer in General Hospital Minna is relatively cheap, however still out of reach of average Nigerian. There is the need for the authorities of General Hospital Minna to strengthen the Nutrition department to meet the dietary requirements of diabetes patients and also the Social welfare department should be well funded to take care of the destitute and paupers who are diabetic but cannot afford the treatment to prevent complications.

Keywords: Cost of Illness; Diabetic Foot Ulcer; Medical Cost, Niger State