El gasto en salud relacionado con la condición de discapacidad: un análisis en población pobre de México

Objective. To estimate the effect of disability and incapacity in health expenditure in poor households in Mexico. Material and Methods. This is an analysis of baseline survey of the Oportunidades evaluation. Households with siblings with structural disability or incapacity were identified, and health expenditure was estimated. Results. In 15 314 households analyzed, 10.1% had a sibling with structural disability, and 13.4% with mild or severe incapacity. The presence of structural disability was not associated with a higher expenditure in health care. The presence of mild or severe incapacity was associated with 97% higher expenditure in ambulatory care compared with households without incapacity. The poor households have higher health related expenditures. Conclusions. These results indicate that the incapacity to develop day to day activities has a significant impact on the out of pocket health expenditure. This impact is higher in poor households.