Informal employment and catastrophic health expenditures: Evidence from Pakistan.

Workers in informal employment suffered significant out-of-pocket healthcare expenditures (OOPHEs) due to their low earnings and a lack of a social safety net or health insurance. There is little or no evidence of impoverishment caused by OOPHEs in the context of labor market categorization. Therefore, this study examines the economic burden of OOPHEs and its associated consequences on households, whose members are in informal employment. This study estimates the incidence of catastrophic health expenditures (CHEs) and impoverishment across the households in formal and informal employment and their key determinants in Pakistan by employing the data from the two rounds of the Household Integrated Economic Survey (2015-16, 2018-19). For measuring CHEs and impoverishment, the budget share and capacity-to-pay approaches are applied. Various thresholds are used to demonstrate the sensitivity of catastrophic measures. We found a higher incidence of catastrophic healthcare payments among the informal workers, that is, 4.03% and 7.11% for 2015-16 and 2018-19, respectively, at a 10% threshold, while at a 40% threshold, the incidence of CHEs is found to be 0.40% and 2.34% for 2015-16 and 2018-19, respectively. These OOPHEs caused 1.53% and 3.66% of households who are in informal employment to become impoverished, compared with their formal counterparts. The study demonstrates that the probability of incurring CHEs and becoming impoverished is high among informal workers, compared with their formal counterparts. This result has clear policy implications, in which to protect the informal workers, it is necessary to expand the insurance coverage, particularly during the COVID-19 response and recovery efforts.

Incidence of COVID-19 and Identification of Possible Risk Factors Associated with COVID-19 in Acute Renal Transplant Recipients in Pakistan.

BACKGROUND Renal transplant recipients are susceptible to increased mortality with COVID-19 infection. There is insufficient data regarding risk factors for COVID-19 disease acquisition. We aimed to identify them here. MATERIAL AND METHODS We enrolled Pakistani renal transplant recipients from February 10, 2020, to March 18, 2021, and actively tracked their baseline health status, transplant characteristics, comorbidities, immunosuppressive therapies, and post-transplant follow-ups until September 2021. Furthermore, we formulated 2 questionnaires for their compliance assessment with COVID-19-preventive measures. We also identified COVID-19 disease acquisition, symptomatology, and management. RESULTS Among the 50 enrolled patients, 14 (28%) patients developed COVID-19, which is higher than the incidence observed in general Pakistani population (0.55%). Their mean age was 35.38 years ±11.69 SD years, and 82% of patients were males. The following factors were independently associated with COVID-19 disease: female gender (P value: 0.042), diabetes mellitus (P value: 0.002), anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) induction (P value: 0.006), in-person follow-ups (P value: 0.000), prolonged immediate and late post-transplant hospital stays (P value: 0.019 and 0.000, respectively), raised post-transplant serum creatinine (P value: 0.019), and COVID-19 protective measures non-compliance (P value: 0.000). Out of 14 infected recipients, 92.85% required symptomatic management and overall mortality was 0%. CONCLUSIONS Female gender, diabetes mellitus, ATG induction, in-person follow-ups, prolonged hospital stays, raised post-transplant serum creatinine, and COVID-19-protective measures non-compliance were associated with the higher acquisition of SARS-CoV-2 infection. By taking concrete measures against these risk factors, we can continue renal transplants, as overall mortality was lower than in the general Pakistani population (2%).

Can blood glucose levels predict biochemical and haematological abnormalities in COVID -19 patients - Experience from a tertiary care hospital in Balochistan.

OBJECTIVE: To find out the association between poor glycaemic levels and biochemical and haematological abnormalities in patients of corona virus disease-2019. METHODS: The prospective, observational, cohort study was conducted at the Combined Military Hospital, Quetta, Pakistan, from September 2020 to February 2021, and comprised all patients who tested positive for coronavirus disease-2019 on polymerase chain reaction test and were subsequently admitted. The patients were divided into two groups on the basis of random blood glucose level at the time of admission; ≥11.1mmol/l (206mg/dl) in group A and 4-11.1mmol (74-206mg/dl) in group B. Association between categorical variables was evaluated and hazard ratio was measured. Data was analysed using SPSS 21. RESULTS: Of the 349 patients, there were 56(16%) in group A; 40(71.4%) males and 16(28.6%) females with age range 39-61 years. There were 293(84%) subjects in group B; 239(81.5%) males and 54(18.5%) females with age range 27-53 years. Overall, 75(21.4%) patients were known type 2 diabetics. A significant association was found between poor glycaemic control and raised levels of C-reactive protein, lactate dehydrogenase, ferritin, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, troponin, creatine kinase, creatine kinase-MB, alanine aminotransferase, creatinine and D-dimers (p<0.05). Inter-group differences were significant for acute kidney injury, acute liver injury, Intensive care unit admission for coagulation abnormalities and for overall mortality (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Poor glycaemic control was found to be a risk factor for developing multisystem complications in patients of coronavirus disease-2019.