Table 2. Patient costs of accessing a TB diagnosis (US$).
| All patients | All poor | All non-poor | All women | All men | All poor women | All poor men | All non-poor women | All non-poor men | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of respondents | 179 | 128 | 51 | 87 | 92 | 64 | 64 | 23 | 28 |
| % of total | 72% | 28% | 49% | 51% | 36% | 36% | 13% | 16% | |
| Average no visits before treatment | 5.2 | 5.1 | 5.3 | 5.4 | 5 | 5.3 | 4.9 | 5.7 | 5.1 |
| Direct costs of pathway to care (mean) | |||||||||
| Cost of fees and drugs | 7.56 | 6.58 | 9.78 | 7.00 | 8.12 | 5.85 | 7.31 | 9.48 | 10.26 |
| Cost of transport | 3.43 | 2.59 | 5.59 | 2.89 | 3.98 | 2.13 | 3.06 | 4.98 | 6.10 |
| Food costs | 1.98 | 1.84 | 2.29 | 2.01 | 1.68 | 2.46 | 1.16 | 1.65 | 2.69 |
| Total direct costs | |||||||||
| Mean | 13.16 | 10.82 | 19.04 | 12.19 | 13.21 | 9.64 | 11.22 | 15.98 | 18.18 |
| Direct cost confidence intervals | (9.81, 16.50) | (7.07, 13.55) | (14.01, 26.05) | (8.58, 15.79) | (8.45, 19.69) | ||||
| Median | 7.03 | 5.89 | 12.55 | 6.47 | 7.41 | 5.39 | 5.42 | 11.23 | 10.95 |
| Opportunity costs | |||||||||
| Days lost | 22.14 | 21.93 | 23.24 | 16.53 | 27.76 | 14.86 | 29.69 | 23.09 | 23.36 |
| Mean daily income | 0.71 | 0.21 | 1.23 | 0.71 | 0.71 | 0.21 | 0.21 | 1.23 | 1.23 |
| Total opportunity cost | 15.81 | 4.64 | 28.67 | 11.81 | 19.83 | 3.14 | 6.27 | 28.48 | 28.81 |
| Total costs | 28.97 | 15.46 | 47.70 | 25.88 | 32.02 | 12.79 | 17.49 | 44.46 | 46.99 |
| Total cost confidence intervals | (21.59, 36.34) | (10.10, 20.79) | (30.10, 65.30) | (16.90, 31.09) | (20.36, 47.44) | ||||
| Total costs as % of monthly income | 135% | 244% | 129% | 121% | 149% | 202% | 276% | 120% | 127% |
| % of income not spent on food | 64.8% | 42.5% | 70.2% | 64.80 | 64.8% | 42.5% | 42.5% | 70.2% | 70.2% |
| Total costs as % of monthly income after food expenditure | 209% | 574% | 184% | 186% | 231% | 475% | 649% | 171% | 181% |
Notes: All costs and income are quoted in US$; the Malawi kwacha/US$ exchange rate at end June 2001 was 75.7. Income figures are taken from Integrated Household Survey data for urban households (NEC 2000),20 updated for June 2001 prices. Statistically significant difference at 95% confidence intervals (CI) arise for direct costs between poor and non-poor only. Statistically significant differences at 95% confidence intervals (CI) for opportunity costs arise between the poor and non-poor because of income levels. CIs were not calculated for the sub-subgroups as sample sizes were too small to be able to yield significant differences at that level.