Productivity cost due to postpartum ill health: A cross-sectional study in Sri Lanka

Even though postpartum morbidity continues to cause high disease burden in maternal morbidity and mortality across the globe, the literature pertaining to resultant productivity loss is scarce. Hence, the present study aimed at determining the productivity loss and associated cost of episodes of pos...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	PloS one Vol. 12; no. 10; p. e0185883
Main Authors:	Wickramasinghe, Nuwan Darshana, Horton, Jennifer, Darshika, Ishani, Galgamuwa, Kaushila Dinithi, Ranasinghe, Wasantha Pradeep, Agampodi, Thilini Chanchala, Agampodi, Suneth Buddhika
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States Public Library of Science 11-10-2017 Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Subjects:	Adult Analysis Child health Childbirth & labor Childrens health Cost of Illness Cross-Sectional Studies Economic aspects Efficiency Female Health Health aspects Health care costs Humans Infections Management Maternal & child health Maternal mortality Mathematical analysis Medicine Medicine and Health Sciences Morbidity Mothers Pain People and places Postpartum Postpartum Period Pregnancy Productivity Social Sciences Studies Surgery Surgical instruments Surveillance Womens health Young Adult Sri Lanka
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	Even though postpartum morbidity continues to cause high disease burden in maternal morbidity and mortality across the globe, the literature pertaining to resultant productivity loss is scarce. Hence, the present study aimed at determining the productivity loss and associated cost of episodes of postpartum ill health. A cross sectional study was conducted in two Medical Officer of Heath areas in the Anuradhapura district, Sri Lanka in 2011, among 407 women residing in Anuradhapura district with an infant aged between 8 to 24 weeks. Validated interviewer administered questionnaires, including the IMMPACT productivity cost tool, were used to collect data on self-reported episodes of postpartum ill health. The productivity loss was calculated as the sum of days lost due to partial and total incapacitation. The adjusted productivity loss for coping strategies was calculated. Productivity cost, both total and adjusted, were calculated based on the mean daily per capita income of the study sample. Of the 407 participants, 161(39.6%) reported at least one episode of postpartum illness. Hospitalisations were reported by 27 (16.8%) of all symptomatic postpartum women. Common symptoms of postpartum ill health were pain/infection at either episiotomy or surgical site (n = 44, 27.3%), lower abdominal pain (n = 40, 24.8%) and backache (n = 27, 16.8%). The mean productivity loss per episode of ill health was 15 days (SD = 7.8 days) and the mean productivity loss per episode after adjusting for coping strategies was 7.9 days (SD = 4.4 days). The mean productivity cost per an episode was US$ 34.2(95%CI US$ 26.7-41.6) and the mean productivity cost per an episode after adjusting for coping strategies was US$ 18.0 (95%CI US$ 14.1-22.0). The prevalence of self-reported postpartum ill health, associated productivity loss and cost were high in the study sample and the main contributors were preventable conditions including pain and infection. Thus, effective pain management and proper infection prevention and control measures are important in reducing the burden of postpartum illness and resultant productivity cost.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
ISSN:	1932-6203 1932-6203
DOI:	10.1371/journal.pone.0185883