Patient treatment cost of oral diseases in Ghana

Objectives: To estimate patient treatment cost of oral diseases in Ghana.

Design: A cross-sectional study design using cost-of-illness analysis was employed.

Setting: The study was conducted at the dental unit of the University of Ghana Hospital, Legon.

Participants: About 185 patients attending the dental unit of the hospital were selected.

Interventions: None.

Main outcome measures: Direct medical and non-medical costs, indirect costs, and intangible costs of treatment of oral conditions.

Results: The estimated average cost of treatment for oral diseases was US$ 35.75. The total cost was US$ 6,614.11, with the direct and indirect costs constituting 94.5% and 5.5%, respectively of the total cost. Direct medical costs constituted 86.9%, while direct non-medical costs constituted 13.1% of the total direct cost. The richer socio-economic group had the highest cost per quintile, with a mean of US$ 46.69. The intangible cost described was highest for pain (47.1%), followed by difficulty in eating (40.8%) and sleeping (34.6%) for both men and women.

Conclusion: The costs of oral diseases are huge and cannot be overlooked. Oral diseases also pose significant productivity losses to patients.

Funding: None declared.