Incidence of catastrophic healthcare expenditure and its main determinants in Mexican households caring for a person with a mental disorder.

Background: There are few studies on the impact of out-of-pocket mental health care expenditures and sociodemographic factors on the probability of Mexican households to incur catastrophic healthcare expenditures (CHE).

Objective: The goal of the present study was to estimate the incidence of CHE and its main determinants among the households of persons with mental disorders (MD) in Mexico.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted, including 387 households of persons with MD. The estimation of the CHE was obtained by the health expenditure distribution method. A Logistic Regression (LR) was used to identify the determinants of probability variation of CHE occurrence. Since we expected a proportion of CHE between 20% and 80%, we assume linearity in the probability function, therefore we additionally used an Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) model.

Results: In our sample, the incidence of CHE was 34.8%. The two mental illnesses most frequently associated with CHE were schizophrenia and hyperactive disorder (35.5% and 32.6% of CHE cases, respectively). The regression coefficients showed that for each unit (US$53.77) increase in income, the probability of CHE was reduced by 8.6%, while for each unit increase in hospitalization or medication expenditures, the probability of CHE increased by 12.9% or 19%, respectively. For each additional household member, the probability of CHE increased by 3%, and households with a male patient had a 7% greater probability of CHE.

Conclusion: Household income, household size, hospitalization and medication expenses, and sex of the patient were significant predictors of CHE for households caring for a person with MD.