Determinants of catastrophic household health expenditure in Nigeria

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of catastrophic household health expenditure in Nigeria, with particular focus on Out-of-Pocket (OOP) health expenditure. Payments for healthcare through OOP are the major means of channeling funds to healthcare providers in many developing countries including Nigeria. It has great consequence on household well-being, especially when it is difficult for household to meet up with spending on other necessity goods.Design/methodology/approachThe demand for health theory provided the theoretical framework. The study used data from 2018/2019 Nigeria Living Standard Survey (NLSS) with catastrophic thresholds of 10 and 25%. A logistic regression model was used, while Pearson chi-squared test was used for models' goodness of fit.FindingsBased on the obtained result using Pearson chi-squared, at 10% threshold of total non-food expenditure, the likelihood of experiencing catastrophic health expenditure increased with secondary education, for those without health insurance and for severely ill or injured by 1.48, 2.57 and 8.70, respectively. It fell for those who consulted patent medicine vendors/chemists for illness or injury by 0.63 compared to orthodox practitioners. Enhancement of post-secondary education and widening the coverage of the available social health insurance would minimise the financial burden on many households.Originality/valueThis paper fulfills the need to examine the determinants of catastrophic household health expenditure on two catastrophic thresholds and two forms of household expenditure.