OBJECTIVES : The burden of childhood injury is huge especially in children less than five years, yet little has been done in estimating the economic cost of injury in children of this age bracket. Evidence on economic cost of injury among children could inform policy in the design and implementation of safety and prevention interventions. This study sought to estimate the household cost and assess the burden of injury in children less than five years on household in an urban setting in Ghana.

METHODS : A cross-sectional survey using multistage sampling technique was employed to select 600 households in the Ejisu-Juaben Municipality of Ashanti Region. Structured questionnaire was used in the data collection. A prevalence based-cost of illness approach was used to estimate the direct, indirect and total cost of injury. All analysis was descriptive and was performed with STATA 13.

RESULTS : The total cost of GHS 5,289,832.21 (US$ 1,081,765.28) averaging at GHS 8,579.66 (US$ 1,754.53) was incurred on injury per household. A total direct cost of GHS 3,992.6 (US$ 816.48) was incurred and each household incurred a cost of GHS 6.67 (US$ 1.36) per injury episode. Similarly, an indirect cost of GHS 4, 808,938 (US$ 983,422.90) was lost averaging GHS 8,014.89 (US$ 1,639.04) per household. Medical care and transportation formed the major cost component. The time value lost was 10,690 cumulative working days with a monetary equivalence of GHC 4,754,320 (US$ 972,253.58) averaging at GHC17, 873 (US$ 3,655.01) per household. The injuries were in the form of amputation (24.2%) and visual disabilities (8.3%).

CONCLUSIONS : There is an increasing cost burden of injury in children under five years and could have an implication on the standard of living among caregivers and households. There is an urgent need for design, implementation of safety and preventive interventions for injury control in the homes.