Table 2.
The overall cost of chronic diseases follow-up treatment and care before and during the pandemic among chronic diseases patients at public hospitals in the three Wallaga zones, Oromia National Regional state, Ethiopia 2020 (n=605)
| Cost categories | Era of COVID-19 pandemic | Observation-on (N) | Mean (SD) | Median (IQR) |
Significance level of median cost difference (during–before COVID-19) |
| Income lost (a) |
Before | 501 | 2.27 (2.75) | 1.48 (2.71) | Z=1.780, p=0.075 |
| During | 501 | 2.25 (2.72) | 1.40 (2.85) | ||
| Transportation (b) |
Before | 430 | 1.91 (2.13) | 1.14 (1.94) | Z=8.028, p=0.001 |
| During | 430 | 3.43 (4.42) | 2.29 (3.05) | ||
| Food and accommodation (c) | Before | 199 | 4.67 (5.05) | 3.43 (4.91) | Z=1.189, p=0.169 |
| During | 199 | 5.6 (5.94) | 4.29 (6.33) | ||
| Total non-medical cost (a+b+ c) = (d) |
Before | 463 | 4.58 (5.35) | 6.05 (5.55) | Z=4.903, p=0.001 |
| During | 463 | 6.81 (7.58) | 7.98 (7.50) | ||
| Total medical cost (e) | Before | 425 | 5.51 (8.43) | 3.71 (5.22) | Z=2.382, p=0.017 |
| During | 425 | 5.93 (7.81) | 4.29 (5.91) | ||
| Total cost per patient per visit (d+e) |
Before | 600 | 10.41 (10.19) | 9.76 (8.64) | Z=5.05, p=0.001 |
| During | 593 | 13.02 (11.22) | 12.27 (10.40) |
1US$ = 35.99 ETB, August, 2020.
ETB, Ethiopian Birr.