Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jul 9;11(7):e045441.
doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-045441.

Economics of healthcare access in low-income and middle-income countries: a protocol for a scoping review of the economic impacts of seeking healthcare on slum-dwellers compared with other city residents

Noemia Teixeira de Siqueira-Filha  1 , Jinshuo Li  2 , Eliud Kibuchi  3 , Zahidul Quayyum  4 , Penelope Phillips-Howard  5 , Abdul Awal  4 , Md Imran Hossain Mithu  4 , Farzana Manzoor  4 , Robinson Karuga  6 , Samuel Saidu  7 , John Smith  7 , Varun Sai  8 , Sureka Garimella  8 , Ivy Chumo  9 , Blessing Mberu  9 , Rachel Tolhurst  10 , Sumit Mazumdar  11 , Vinodkumar Rao  12 , Nadia Farnaz  13 , Wafa Alam  4 , Helen Elsey  2
Affiliations

Economics of healthcare access in low-income and middle-income countries: a protocol for a scoping review of the economic impacts of seeking healthcare on slum-dwellers compared with other city residents

Noemia Teixeira de Siqueira-Filha et al. BMJ Open. .

Abstract

Introduction: People living in slums face several challenges to access healthcare. Scarce and low-quality public health facilities are common problems in these communities. Costs and prevalence of catastrophic health expenditures (CHE) have also been reported as high in studies conducted in slums in developing countries and those suffering from chronic conditions and the poorest households seem to be more vulnerable to financial hardship. The COVID-19 pandemic may be aggravating the economic impact on the extremely vulnerable population living in slums due to the long-term consequences of the disease. The objective of this review is to report the economic impact of seeking healthcare on slum-dwellers in terms of costs and CHE. We will compare the economic impact on slum-dwellers with other city residents.

Methods and analysis: This scoping review adopts the framework suggested by Arksey and O'Malley. The review is part of the accountability and responsiveness of slum-dwellers (ARISE) research consortium, which aims to enhance accountability to improve the health and well-being of marginalised populations living in slums in India, Bangladesh, Sierra Leone and Kenya. Costs of accessing healthcare will be updated to 2020 prices using the inflation rates reported by the International Monetary Fund. Costs will be presented in International Dollars by using purchase power parity. The prevalence of CHE will also be reported.

Ethics and dissemination: Ethical approval is not required for scoping reviews. We will disseminate our results alongside the events organised by the ARISE consortium and international conferences. The final manuscript will be submitted to an open-access international journal. Registration number at the Research Registry: reviewregistry947.

Keywords: health economics; health policy; health services administration & management; protocols & guidelines.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Inclusion and exclusion pathway of the scoping review.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. United Nations . World urbanization prospects. The 2018 revision. New York: United Nations, 2019.
    1. United Nations . The millennium development goals report. New York: United Nations, 2015. https://visit.un.org/millenniumgoals/2008highlevel/pdf/MDG_Report_2008_A...
    1. The World Bank . World Bank Country and lending groups, 2020. Available: https://datahelpdesk.worldbank.org/knowledgebase/articles/906519
    1. Chen M, Zhang H, Liu W, et al. . The global pattern of urbanization and economic growth: evidence from the last three decades. PLoS One 2014;9:e103799. 10.1371/journal.pone.0103799 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ezeh A, Oyebode O, Satterthwaite D, et al. . The history, geography, and sociology of slums and the health problems of people who live in slums. Lancet 2017;389:547–58. 10.1016/S0140-6736(16)31650-6 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types