International Journal of Health Economics and Policy

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Effect of Out-of-Pocket Health Expenditure on the Welfare of Rural Households in Kwara State, Nigeria

Received: 08 October 2016    Accepted: 21 October 2016    Published: 19 November 2016
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Abstract

Serious illness can induce utilization of health services which can impose high costs on households at a time when household ability to earn income is hampered due to inability to work of the ill individual and caregivers and as such affecting the welfare of the household as a whole. This study was carried out to examine the effect of out-of-pocket health expenditure (OOP) on welfare of rural households in Kwara State Nigeria. Using a Two-stage sampling technique, 180 rural households were sampled out of which 175 households were used for the analysis of the study. The study employed descriptive statistics and Ordinary least square (OLS) regression in analysing the data collected for the study. The result of the descriptive statistics shows that on the average, household head in the study area was 42years of age with 7years of schooling, 22years of farming experience, about household size of 5 in adult male equivalent, a per capita income of N4,960, calorie consumption of 3151.46kcal/AE/day and monthly health expense of N676. The result of the analysis carried out to examine the effect of health expenditure on per capita calorie intake and income of households, shows that out-of-pocket health expense has a positive significant effect on both per capita calorie intake and income at 10% statistical level. The results of the study have shown the adverse effect of OOP on welfare of households in the study area and as such add to existing literatures on the welfare effect of health expenditure in developing countries. The study therefore recommends that the government should promote and sustain alternative health care financing mechanism like insurance schemes to assist poor households in benefiting from health services to reduce their OOP. Also, government should encourage the establishment of private health insurance schemes by creating enabling environment for them to thrive.

DOI 10.11648/j.hep.20160101.11
Published in International Journal of Health Economics and Policy (Volume 1, Issue 1, December 2016)
Page(s) 1-5
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This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

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Keywords

Out-of-Pocket Health Expenditure (OOP), Calorie Intake, Income, OLS Regression

References
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Author Information
  • Department of Agricultural Economics and Farm Management, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria

  • Department of Agricultural Economics and Farm Management, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria

  • Department of Agricultural Economics and Farm Management, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria

  • Department of Agricultural Economics and Farm Management, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria

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    Oyedeji Oluwafemi Amos, Ukemenam Miriam Nwakuso, Mohammed Abdullahi Baba, Ojediran Ezekiel Olamide. (2016). Effect of Out-of-Pocket Health Expenditure on the Welfare of Rural Households in Kwara State, Nigeria. International Journal of Health Economics and Policy, 1(1), 1-5. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hep.20160101.11

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    Oyedeji Oluwafemi Amos; Ukemenam Miriam Nwakuso; Mohammed Abdullahi Baba; Ojediran Ezekiel Olamide. Effect of Out-of-Pocket Health Expenditure on the Welfare of Rural Households in Kwara State, Nigeria. Int. J. Health Econ. Policy 2016, 1(1), 1-5. doi: 10.11648/j.hep.20160101.11

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    AMA Style

    Oyedeji Oluwafemi Amos, Ukemenam Miriam Nwakuso, Mohammed Abdullahi Baba, Ojediran Ezekiel Olamide. Effect of Out-of-Pocket Health Expenditure on the Welfare of Rural Households in Kwara State, Nigeria. Int J Health Econ Policy. 2016;1(1):1-5. doi: 10.11648/j.hep.20160101.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.hep.20160101.11,
      author = {Oyedeji Oluwafemi Amos and Ukemenam Miriam Nwakuso and Mohammed Abdullahi Baba and Ojediran Ezekiel Olamide},
      title = {Effect of Out-of-Pocket Health Expenditure on the Welfare of Rural Households in Kwara State, Nigeria},
      journal = {International Journal of Health Economics and Policy},
      volume = {1},
      number = {1},
      pages = {1-5},
      doi = {10.11648/j.hep.20160101.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hep.20160101.11},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.hep.20160101.11},
      abstract = {Serious illness can induce utilization of health services which can impose high costs on households at a time when household ability to earn income is hampered due to inability to work of the ill individual and caregivers and as such affecting the welfare of the household as a whole. This study was carried out to examine the effect of out-of-pocket health expenditure (OOP) on welfare of rural households in Kwara State Nigeria. Using a Two-stage sampling technique, 180 rural households were sampled out of which 175 households were used for the analysis of the study. The study employed descriptive statistics and Ordinary least square (OLS) regression in analysing the data collected for the study. The result of the descriptive statistics shows that on the average, household head in the study area was 42years of age with 7years of schooling, 22years of farming experience, about household size of 5 in adult male equivalent, a per capita income of N4,960, calorie consumption of 3151.46kcal/AE/day and monthly health expense of N676. The result of the analysis carried out to examine the effect of health expenditure on per capita calorie intake and income of households, shows that out-of-pocket health expense has a positive significant effect on both per capita calorie intake and income at 10% statistical level. The results of the study have shown the adverse effect of OOP on welfare of households in the study area and as such add to existing literatures on the welfare effect of health expenditure in developing countries. The study therefore recommends that the government should promote and sustain alternative health care financing mechanism like insurance schemes to assist poor households in benefiting from health services to reduce their OOP. Also, government should encourage the establishment of private health insurance schemes by creating enabling environment for them to thrive.},
     year = {2016}
    }
    

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    T1  - Effect of Out-of-Pocket Health Expenditure on the Welfare of Rural Households in Kwara State, Nigeria
    AU  - Oyedeji Oluwafemi Amos
    AU  - Ukemenam Miriam Nwakuso
    AU  - Mohammed Abdullahi Baba
    AU  - Ojediran Ezekiel Olamide
    Y1  - 2016/11/19
    PY  - 2016
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hep.20160101.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.hep.20160101.11
    T2  - International Journal of Health Economics and Policy
    JF  - International Journal of Health Economics and Policy
    JO  - International Journal of Health Economics and Policy
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    PB  - Science Publishing Group
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    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hep.20160101.11
    AB  - Serious illness can induce utilization of health services which can impose high costs on households at a time when household ability to earn income is hampered due to inability to work of the ill individual and caregivers and as such affecting the welfare of the household as a whole. This study was carried out to examine the effect of out-of-pocket health expenditure (OOP) on welfare of rural households in Kwara State Nigeria. Using a Two-stage sampling technique, 180 rural households were sampled out of which 175 households were used for the analysis of the study. The study employed descriptive statistics and Ordinary least square (OLS) regression in analysing the data collected for the study. The result of the descriptive statistics shows that on the average, household head in the study area was 42years of age with 7years of schooling, 22years of farming experience, about household size of 5 in adult male equivalent, a per capita income of N4,960, calorie consumption of 3151.46kcal/AE/day and monthly health expense of N676. The result of the analysis carried out to examine the effect of health expenditure on per capita calorie intake and income of households, shows that out-of-pocket health expense has a positive significant effect on both per capita calorie intake and income at 10% statistical level. The results of the study have shown the adverse effect of OOP on welfare of households in the study area and as such add to existing literatures on the welfare effect of health expenditure in developing countries. The study therefore recommends that the government should promote and sustain alternative health care financing mechanism like insurance schemes to assist poor households in benefiting from health services to reduce their OOP. Also, government should encourage the establishment of private health insurance schemes by creating enabling environment for them to thrive.
    VL  - 1
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