ABSTRACT
Introduction: Catastrophic health spending is one of the major factors pushing people into poverty. Reducing “out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE)” on health through health insurance coverage is an effective approach. The objectives of this study are (1) to estimate health insurance coverage among rural and urban households (HHs) and (2) to determine the proportion of income spent on health as OOPE among the selected HHs. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in rural and urban parts of district Faridabad, Haryana. A sample of 374 were taken from rural and urban areas. The unit of the study was HHs in both the areas. The proportion of income spent on health care (both direct and indirect expenses included) as OOPE was taken as outcome variable. Results: Health insurance coverage was higher among urban HHs (58.0%) as compared to the rural (38.5%). The rural population was availing of private consultation, laboratory, and pharmacy services to a greater extent than the urban; hence, they were spending a substantial proportion of their income on health-care services. The majority of the HHs in the rural and urban areas spent up to 20% of their income on health care. Conclusion: Universal health coverage without health insurance is unlikely.
ABSTRACT
Background: Raised blood pressure (hypertension) caused an estimated 9.4 million deaths in 2010. 22% of adults aged 18 years and over around the world had raised blood pressure in 2014 In India prevalence of Hypertension is 22.4% (13.5% in Haryana, district Faridabad) according to National Family Health Survey 2015-2016. A number of studies have estimated the prevalence of hypertension in general population in our country but data regarding the prevalence of hypertension in industrial workers has not been documented in the recent past. The objectives of the study were to calculate the prevalence of hypertension and its associated risk factors in employee’s state insurance (ESI) beneficiaries in four districts in Haryana.Methods: Cross-sectional study was done on 365 ESI beneficiaries working in industries in four districts of Haryana. Predesigned structured self-administered questionnaire was used for interview. Blood pressure measurement and all the anthropometric measurements were done by the following standardized technique.Results: The overall prevalence of hypertension was found to be 17.26%. The severity of hypertension increased significantly with age (p=0.006). Overweight and obese participants had higher proportion of hypertensive, however, history of shift duty, drug abuse, tobacco and alcohol intake did not show a significant trend of severity of HTN.Conclusions: From the results of the present study, it can be concluded that there are a large number of undiagnosed cases of hypertension amongst employee’s state insurance corporation (ESIC) beneficiaries. It is, therefore recommended that health check-up and awareness camps should be conducted on regular basis for early detection and timely treatment of hypertension.