Childhood pneumonia is a leading cause of mortality worldwide. The estimates of the economic burden of these illnesses will be beneficial to the design of effective treatment, management of resources, and evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of health interventions. Nevertheless, a systematic review of the economic cost of treatment of pneumonia in children has not been performed. Thus, the objective of this study was to systematically review the cost of pneumonia in children. A systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed, including journal articles reporting the cost of pneumonia in children from 2000 to 2015. Seventeen articles were selected for the review. Ten articles included only direct medical cost. One article included direct medical cost and direct non-medical cost. Six articles included all components, i.e., direct medical cost, direct non-medical cost and indirect cost. Costs were converted to 2015 US dollars. The results show a wide range of cost estimates due to study design, types of pneumonia, patient age, patient types (inpatient or outpatient), and the economic and healthcare systems in each country. Pneumonia has a substantial economic impact, and the lack of information on the cost of pneumonia in several countries highlights the need for further work in order to describe the global economic burden of pneumonia.
Keywords
cost of illness, children, pneumonia, systematic review, review