Use of health care resources for varicella in the paediatric population, Jordan.

Abstract

The exact burden of varicella is not well quantified in Jordan. This study aimed to estimate the varicella burden in paediatric patients in Jordan who sought care in a hospital-based setting. This was a multicentre, retrospective review of medical records of patients aged 0-14 years with a primary varicella diagnosis in Jordan between 2013 and 2018. The data assessed were: use of health care resources for varicella (outpatient and inpatient visits, tests and procedures, and medication use), and clinical complications of the infection. Estimated costs were based on health care resources used (direct costs) and lost revenue to the child's caregiver (indirect costs) for outpatients and inpatients. In total, 140 children with varicella were included: 78 outpatients, mean age (standard deviation) 4.4 (3.2) years, and 62 inpatients, mean age 4.0 (3.8) years. No outpatients had varicella-related complications, while 32 (52%) inpatients had ≥ 1 complication. The use of health care resources was higher for inpatients than outpatients, including prescription medication use - 94% of inpatients versus 6% of outpatients. Total costs of varicella were estimated at US$ 66.1 (95% CI: 64.1-68.1) per outpatient and US$ 914.7 (95% CI: 455.6-1373.9) per inpatient. Varicella is associated with considerable use of health care resources in Jordan and may be responsible for annual costs of US$ 11.5 million. These results support universal varicella vaccination in Jordan.