Abstract:
Objective To understand the incidence of febrile respiratory infection, healthcare-seeking pattern of patients, and economic burdens in populations aged <14 years and ≥60 years in Pudong of Shanghai Municipality, Yichang of Hubei Province,and Kashgar of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in winter and spring during 2023-2024.
Methods A self-designed questionnaire was used in 2024 in the face-to-face interviews of eligible residents selected by random sampling in Pudong, Yichang and Kashgar to collect the information about their basic characteristics, febrile respiratory infection, health care seeking patterns and treatment expenditures, and the incidence rate of febrile respiratory infection, hospital visiting rate and cost were analyzed with descriptive analysis methods.
Results A total of 3 619 cases of febrile respiratory infections in key populations in Pudong, Yichang and Kashgar were investigated in winter and spring during 2023-2024, including 853 self-reported cases (23.57%).. The proportions of the cases were higher in age group < 5 years (38.46%, 270/702) and 5~14 years (43.59%, 119/273) than in age group >60 years (15.51%, 47/303) in Pudong, higher in age group 5~14 years (33.33 %, 81/243) than in age group <5 years (24.71%, 169/684) in Yichang, and there were no significant differences in this proportion of the cases among different age groups in Kashgar (P >0.05). A total of 415 (48.65%, 415/853) patients visited hospitals , in whom 348 (40.80%, 348/853) were outpatients and 67 (7.85%, 67/853) were hospitalized. The proportion of the cases seeking health care was higher in age group <5 years (35.19%, 95/270) than in age groups 5-14 years (22.69%, 27/119) and over 60 years (12.77%, 6/47) in Pudong, and there were no significant differences (P>0.05)in this proportions among different age groups in Yichang and Kashgar. In terms of expenses, the median (quartiles) total costs for the self-purchased drug, outpatient emergency and inpatient populations were CNY 59 (30, 100), CNY 583 (200, 1 222), and CNY 4201 (2 032, 7 300), respectively.
Conclusion In winter and spring during 2023-2024, the incidence rate of febrile respiratory tract infection, hospital visiting rate and related economic burden in key populations were all higher in Pudong and Yichang than in Kashgar, suggesting that there are certain differences in the disease burden of febrile respiratory tract infections in key populations among different areas.