Estimates of economic burden of providing inpatient care in childhood rotavirus gastroenteritis from Malaysia

Aim:  To estimate the cost of an episode of inpatient care and the economic burden of hospitalisation for childhood rotavirus gastroenteritis (GE) in Malaysia.

Methods:  A 12-month prospective, hospital-based study on children less than 14 years of age with rotavirus GE, admitted to University of Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, was conducted in 2002. Data on human resource expenditure, costs of investigations, treatment and consumables were collected. Published estimates on rotavirus disease incidence in Malaysia were searched. Economic burden of hospital care for rotavirus GE in Malaysia was estimated by multiplying the cost of each episode of hospital admission for rotavirus GE with national rotavirus incidence in Malaysia.

Results:  In 2002, the per capita health expenditure by Malaysian Government was US$71.47. Rotavirus was positive in 85 (22%) of the 393 patients with acute GE admitted during the study period. The median cost of providing inpatient care for an episode of rotavirus GE was US$211.91 (range US$68.50–880.60). The estimated average cases of children hospitalised for rotavirus GE in Malaysia (1999–2000) was 8571 annually. The financial burden of providing inpatient care for rotavirus GE in Malaysian children was estimated to be US$1.8 million (range US$0.6 million−7.5 million) annually.

Conclusion:  The cost of providing inpatient care for childhood rotavirus GE in Malaysia was estimated to be US$1.8 million annually. The financial burden of rotavirus disease would be higher if cost of outpatient visits, non-medical and societal costs are included.