Experience and Cost of Pediatric Gastroenteritis to Families: A Survey of Malaysian and Vietnamese Parents

Soraya Azmi

doi:10.15226/2374-815x/2/1/00127

Abstract

Objective: Similar to other parts of the world, gastroenteritis is an important cause of morbidity among children in South East Asia. We conducted a study to better understand the experience of pediatric gastroenteritis families from a parental perspective in Malaysia and Vietnam. It is also to explore cost and productivity loss associated with pediatric gastroenteritis incurred by families. Methods: A survey was conducted between August 2012 and April 2013 in Malaysia and Vietnam. A total of 245 and 307 questionnaires were completed by respondents selected by convenience sampling in Malaysia and Vietnam, respectively. A descriptive statistical analysis was performed. Results: Among respondents who had children below the age of 10, 89.6% of Vietnamese respondents and 98.8% of Malaysian respondents reported that their children had experienced an episode of gastroenteritis. Of these, 41.0% of Vietnamese parents and 21.1% of Malaysian respondents reported that the gastroenteritis episode required hospital admission. The most commonly reported length of hospitalization in Malaysia and Vietnam was 2 to 5 days. Overall, the most common hospitalization fees were more than USD 350 in Malaysia and between USD 1 to USD 34 in Vietnam. There were differences in the presentation of gastroenteritis and access to the health system was different in the two countries with different economic impact on families. Conclusion: Overall, the majority of parents surveyed in both countries reported their children having experienced gastroenteritis. The episodes incurred a financial cost as well as productivity loss. There were several study limitations including the small convenience sample obtained and a lack of cost information to fully account for the economic costs. Nonetheless, the results offer some additional insight into the impact of childhood gastroenteritis on families in these two countries. Education on prevention is needed and vaccination should

Highlights

Gastroenteritis is one of the leading causes of pediatric morbidity and mortality, worldwide [1,2,3]
This included the type of treatment, duration of hospitalization, cost of hospitalization, mode of payment of hospitalization fees and the number of days off from work to care for their child who was affected by gastroenteritis
We found a significant variation in the hospitalization fee charges for gastroenteritis-associated hospital admission in children in Malaysia and Vietnam

Summary

Introduction

Gastroenteritis is one of the leading causes of pediatric morbidity and mortality, worldwide [1,2,3]. In terms of causative organisms in children, approximately 70% episodes of gastroenteritis are caused by virus, followed by 10% to 20% by bacteria and less than 10% are due to protozoa [2,47]. The common causative organisms are rotavirus, nontyphoidal Salmonella, Campylobacter species, Shigella species and Escherichia coli [4,5,6,7]. An estimated two billion cases are reported globally with approximately 440,000 annual deaths, affecting children below the age of five in developing countries [1,8]. Gastroenteritis is the second most common cause of death in children in this age group after pneumonia [1]. Among the common causative organisms, rotavirus gastroenteritis causes approximately 111 million episodes of gastroenteritis per year requiring home care, 25 million clinic visits, and 2 million hospital admissions

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion