Abstract:
Background: Hypertension in low‐ and middle‐income
countries, including Kenya, is of economic importance due
to its increasing prevalence and its potential to present an
economic burden to households. In this study, we examined
the patient costs associated with obtaining care for hyper-
tension in public health care facilities in Kenya.
Methods: We conducted a cross‐sectional study among
adult respondents above 18 years of age, with at least
6 months of treatment in two counties. A total of 212
patients seeking hypertension care at five public facilities
were interviewed, and information on care seeking and
the associated costs was obtained. We computed both
annual direct and indirect costs borne by these patients.
Results: Overall, the mean annual direct cost to patients
was US$ 304.8 (95% CI, 235.7‐374.0). Medicines (mean
annual cost, US$ 168.9; 95% CI, 132.5‐205.4), transport
(mean annual cost, US$ 126.7; 95% CI, 77.6‐175.9), and
user charges (mean annual cost, US$ 57.7; 95% CI, 43.7‐
71.6) were the highest direct cost categories. Overall mean
annual indirect cost was US$ 171.7 (95% CI, 152.8‐190.5).
The incidence of catastrophic health care costs was 43.3%
(95% CI, 36.8‐50.2) and increased to 59.0% (95% CI, 52.2‐
65.4) when transport costs were included Conclusions: Hypertensive patients incur substantial
direct and indirect costs. High rates of catastrophic costs
illustrate the urgency of improving financial risk protection
for these patients and strengthening primary care to ensure
affordability of hypertension care