Management of Chest Indrawing Pneumonia in Children Under Five Years at the Outpatient Health Facilities in Nigeria: An Economic Evaluation

Background The recommendation of the World Health Organization (WHO) for the management of children aged < 5 years with chest indrawing pneumonia with oral amoxicillin dispersible tablets (DT) at the outpatient health facilities is imperative, especially in a high pneumonia mortality and low-resource setting like Nigeria. However, this recommendation has not been widely adopted in Nigeria due to poor access to healthcare and sub-optimal outpatient management and follow-up system to ensure patients’ safety and management effectiveness. This study aimed to evaluate the cost effectiveness and the cost benefit of the WHO recommendation relative to usual practices in Nigeria. The outcome of this study will provide supporting evidence to healthcare providers and inform their management decisions. Methods A cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analyses of this study used a Markov cohort model from the healthcare provider perspective for a time horizon of five years. Three approaches were compared: a conventional approach (base-comparator); the amoxicillin DT (WHO) approach; and a parenteral approach. Bottom-up costing method was used. Health outcome was expressed as disability-adjusted life years averted and converted to monetary terms (benefit). Results The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) and the benefit-cost ratio (BCR) of the amoxicillin DT approach dominate the conventional approach. The parenteral approach was more effective and more beneficial than the amoxicillin DT approach but the ICER and BCR were $75,655/DALY averted and 0.035, respectively. Conclusions The use of amoxicillin DT proves to be the optimal choice with high benefit and low cost. The opportunity cost of not adopting an approach more effective than amoxicillin DT will be offset by the cost saved. Its use in chest indrawing pneumonia management needs to be scaled up.