Treatment costs of mandibular fractures in a Nigerian hospital.

PURPOSE: To determine the cost of surgically treated mandibular fractures, methods of payments, and the relationship between socioeconomic status of subjects and payment methods in a Nigerian tertiary hospital. METHODS: A retrospective review of 100 subjects who sustained 148 isolated mandibular fractures was conducted between November 2014 and October 2019. Demographics, socioeconomic status, mechanism of injury, fracture sites, type of treatment, and cost of treatment with methods of payments were obtained from medical records and hospital billing sheets of eligible subjects. The relationship between independent variables (age, sex, payment method, and treatment methods) and dependent variable (income class) was analyzed. RESULTS: The mean age of the subjects was 31.8 ± 10.9 years; age range 17-63 years. The majority (75/100) belonged to the middle-income class. The costs of mandibular fractures repairs were ₦42,900 ($119.17) and ₦132,500 ($386.05) for closed reduction (CRMMF) and open reduction and rigid internal fixation (ORIF) respectively. All subjects in the low-income class (4/100) paid out of pocket for their treatment compared with 93% and 62% of the middle- and high-income classes respectively (p = 0.001). Half of the subjects in the low-income class had ORIF compared with 31% and 62% of the middle- and high-income classes respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The treatments costs of mandibular fractures were ₦42,900 ($119.17) and ₦132,500 ($386.05) for CRMMF and ORIF respectively. The treatment costs were mostly out-of-pocket expenditure meaning that the subjects in the low-and middle-income classes bore the financial burden of their injuries.

Environmental Characteristics of HIV/AIDS Affected Households in a Nigerian Rural Community.

A study of environmental attributes of HIV/AIDS affected households in Ijesa region, Nigeria (N = 297). Data from both primary and secondary sources were used to establish the relationship between socio-economic and environmental characteristics at different rural community zones; namely traditional core, post traditional and contemporary. There were more female HIV/AIDS patients, located in traditional core zones (78.1%) with high house density, living in shared apartments where residents shared sleeping and bath/toilet rooms. Thus, rape was significantly associated with the design and habitation density of households. In addition, widowhood, young age, informal education, menial jobs and unemployment of patients did not correlate with most environmental variables related to HIV/AIDS in contemporary zone compared with traditional zone. However, wealth status and quality education in relation to good housing environment and decent house density were significant in contemporary zone respectively. The study concluded that policies on HIV/AIDS prevalence at rural community level should focus more on high density areas having poor socio-economic and environmental characteristics.