Economic effect of angina on households in south Asia: a propensity score matching approach

Abstract

BackgroundPoor population health causes adverse national economic outcomes. Out-of-pocket medical expenditure, loss of earnings because of absence from work, decreased non-medical consumption expenditure (eg, on food, housing, education), and the subsequent effect on living standards underlie this aggregate economic effect. Worldwide, an estimated 54 million people have angina, of whom 16 million are from the WHO South-East Asia region. Despite the increasing burden of cardiovascular diseases in south Asia, there is no evidence of an economic effect of angina on households in this region. We investigated the economic effect of angina on households in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.M..