Socioeconomic inequalities in catastrophic expenditures for hypertension management in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana.

OBJECTIVE

In this study, we aimed to explore the socio-economic inequalities in Ghana's catastrophic expenditure on hypertension management.

METHODS

We used data from our catastrophic health expenditure survey (CHE), which was conducted in two primary health care facilities in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana: Weija Gbawe Municipal Hospital (WGMH) and Shai Osoduko District Hospital (SODH). Data collection at these facilities took place from December 2023 to February 2024. We estimated the distribution of unstandardized CHE (in terms of wealth and sex). We decomposed our data to measure socioeconomic inequality in CHE and assess the contribution of each explanatory variable to these inequalities.

RESULTS

Our findings showed that CHE is extensive among patients in the lower (OR = 0.86, 95% CI: 0.79-0.99, p-value = 0.03) and lowest quintiles (OR = 0.76, 95% CI: 0.69-0.93, p-value = 0.02). Socioeconomic status remains a key contributor to CHE inequality in hypertension care in Ghana.

CONCLUSION

It is our view that patients with lower socioeconomic status are targeted by policy actions to address their vulnerability in hypertension care.