The Economic Impacts of Chronic Illness on Households of Patients in Ile-Ife, South-Western Nigeria

Introduction Chronic illnesses are slowly becoming more prevalent worldwide. The implications and ramifications of these illnesses vary and affect not only the patient but the entire household in many ways. This research focuses on the economic implications of this category of illnesses on the entire household. The aim is to determine the economic implications of chronic illnesses on households of patients in selected health facilities in Ile-Ife, Nigeria, and to elucidate the various coping strategies applied by households in low and middle income countries (LMICs) to keep up with these economic implications. Methods This study features a descriptive cross-sectional survey design with a total sample of 443. The target population consists of individuals with chronic diseases in selected health care facilities in Ile-Ife.  Results The mean household monthly incomes before and after illness episodes were found to be $335.84 and $318.01, respectively. The mean direct cost of chronic illness was $137.72 with about 79% (n=350) of the respondents spending more than 10% of the monthly household income on health. The indirect costs of illness were a loss of productivity of 18.9% and 5.1% for patients and caregivers, respectively. A large percentage of the respondents resorted to borrowing (44.7%; n=198), while another 5.0% (n=22) sold assets, and 8.6% (n=38) had access to health insurance in order to cope with the economic impacts of the illness. Conclusion The study showed that chronic illnesses imposed high and catastrophic cost burdens on patients and their households. The lack of effective coping strategies points at the need for policymakers to improve access to specialized care and increase coverage of formal health insurance so as to ameliorate the significant economic impacts that chronic illnesses have on entire households.