Profile of mortality among beneficiaries of public health assurance schemes in Karnataka: a retrospective study

Abstract

Background: The burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) that can potentially be dealt at tertiary care is increasing in developing countries including India which increase the out of pocket expenditure. Different health assurance schemes have been implemented in the state of Karnataka to provide access to quality tertiary medical care to all. The current study was undertaken to study the profile of mortality under these schemes as no information was available till date.Methods: Data of beneficiaries availing treatment in empanelled tertiary care hospitals under health assurance schemes was collected from Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust (SAST) online data base from April 2015 to March 2016 on 20 August 2016. Statistical analysis was done by data collection using Microsoft EXCEL 2010 and SPSS-20 version.Results: Majority of the beneficiaries (91.9%) were treated under Vajpayee Arogyashree Scheme. Deaths were more in beneficiaries of Mysore division with significant high mortality in burn patients. Nearly 63.2% of the beneficiaries were males and were in the age group of 15-60 years and higher hospital mortality was seen among infants (6.8%). Age less than one year, longer cardio pulmonary bypass time and longer aortic cross-clamp time are significantly (p<0.001) associated with hospital mortality in surgeries of congenital heart disease.Conclusions: Mortality in beneficiaries of health assurance schemes was more in infants, females, burn cases and in Mysore division.