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Table 4 Mean costs ($US*) for treatment incurred by the caregiver for an episode of pediatric diarrhea in a sample of 551 Bolivian children seeking care for acute diarrhea, 2007 – 2009, stratified by SUMI status

From: The economic burden of pediatric gastroenteritis to Bolivian families: a cross-sectional study of correlates of catastrophic cost and overall cost burden

Type of cost

SUMI

Non-SUMI

P**

 

n

Mean

SEM

n

Mean

SEM

Direct medical costs

266

  

47

   

 Diagnostic

 

1.00

0.50

 

0.50

0.00

0.42

 Medicines

 

4.50

0.50

 

5.00

1.00

<0.01

 Consultation Fees

 

1.00

0.00

 

20.00

5.50

<0.01

Total

 

6.00

1.00

 

25.00

6.00

<0.01

Direct non-medical costs

266

  

47

   

 Transportation

 

3.00

0.50

 

3.00

1.00

0.38

 Food during visit

 

1.50

0.00

 

2.00

0.00

0.01

 Diapers

 

2.50

0.50

 

4.50

1.00

0.18

 Child care

 

0.50

0.50

 

0.00

0.00

0.47

 Total

 

8.00

0.50

 

9.50

1.50

0.10

Total Direct Costs

 

14.00

1.00

 

34.50

6.00

<0.01

Indirect Costs (lost wages)

127

14.00

2.50

21

26.50

4.50

<0.01

Total (direct and indirect) cost per episode

266

20.50

2.00

47

46.50

7.50

<0.01

Cost burden (Total Costs as% of annual income)

266

1.6

0.2

47

1.8

0.3

<0.01

  1. *Mean costs and SEMs are rounded to the nearest $0.50.
  2. Total costs less than the sum of direct and indirect costs due to the missing values for indirect costs, which are treated as zero in total cost calculations.
  3. **P-value for Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance test (non-parametric). Italicized text indicates p < 0.05.