Abstract
BackgroundTreatment costs of induced abortion complications can consume a substantial amount of hospital resources. This use of hospitals scarce resources to treat induced abortion complications may affect hospitals’ capacities to deliver other health care services. In spite of the importance of studying the burden of the treatment of induced abortion complications, few studies have been conducted to document the costs of treating abortion complications in Burkina Faso. Our objective was to estimate the costs of six abortion complications including incomplete abortion, hemorrhage, shock, infection/sepsis, cervix or vagina laceration, and uterus perforation treated in two public referral hospital facilities in Ouagadougou and the cost saving of providing safe abortion care services.MethodsThe distribution of abortion-related complications was assessed through a review of postabortion care-registers combined with interviews with key informants in maternity wards and in hospital facilities. Two structured questionnaires were used for data collection following the perspective of the hospital. The first questionnaire collected information on the units and the unit costs of drugs and medical supplies used in the treatment of each complication. The second questionnaire gathered information on salaries and overhead expenses. All data were entered in a spreadsheet designed for studying abortion, and analyses were performed on Excel 2007.ResultsAcross six types of abortion complications, the mean cost per patient was USD45.86. The total cost to these two public referral hospital facilities for treating the complications of abortion was USD22,472.53 in 2010 equivalent to USD24,466.21 in 2015. Provision of safe abortion care services to women who suffered from complications of unsafe induced abortion and who received care in these public hospitals would only have cost USD2,694, giving potential savings of more than USD19,778.53 in that year.ConclusionsThe treatment of the complications of abortion consumes a significant proportion (up to USD22,472.53) of the two public hospitals resources in Burkina Faso. Safe abortion care services may represent a cost beneficial alternative, as it may have saved USD19,778.53 in 2010.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12913-016-1822-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Treatment costs of induced abortion complications can consume a substantial amount of hospital resources
Similar to what was found for the combined facilities, hemorrhage and shock appeared to be the second and third leading complications treated in the tertiary teaching hospital
The results indicate that the average treatment cost of an abortion complication amounted to USD45,86, rising beyond the per capita expenditure on health care in Burkina Faso, which has been estimated to USD39 [29]
Summary
Treatment costs of induced abortion complications can consume a substantial amount of hospital resources This use of hospitals scarce resources to treat induced abortion complications may affect hospitals’ capacities to deliver other health care services. In spite of the increasing evidence of the economic consequences of abortion, [18] there have been relatively few studies that have addressed the costs of treating complications from unsafe abortions and the cost saving for providing safe abortion care services at the individual, hospital and health system levels. For Burkina Faso, while the incidence of abortion has been recognized, [1, 19] no study has examined the costs to hospitals for treating complications of unsafe abortion and the cost saving of safe abortion care services provision
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