Catastrophic expenditure and impoverishment after caesarean section in Sierra Leone

Women who delivered by caesarean section in nine hospitals were followed up with home visits one month after surgery, and data on medical and non-medical expenditures were collected. Individual income was estimated based on household characteristics and used to determine catastrophic expenditure and impoverishment for each patient. The impact of the Free Health Care Initiative (FHCI) was assessed by comparing actual expenditure with counterfactual expenditures had the initiative not existed.本研究对9家医院内接受剖宫产分娩的产妇于术后1个月开展家访随访，收集其医疗与非医疗支出相关数据；基于家庭特征估算个体收入水平，以此判定每位产妇的灾难性卫生支出（catastrophic expenditure）与致贫状态；通过对比实际支出与无该免费医疗倡议（Free Health Care Initiative, FHCI）情境下的反事实支出（counterfactual expenditure），评估该倡议的实施影响。