Health Cohort Analysis of Poverty Trends in Health Costs of Households with Children in Urban and Rural Areas of Kerman Province, Iran, during 1984-2012

Child well-being is, either directly or indirectly, affected by the health expenditures of the household. This study aims to investigate the health poverty trends in the field of health within households with children in rural and urban areas of Kerman Province, Iran, between the years 1984 and 2012.
In this trend analysis, using the statistical data on health poverty indices of households during 1984-2012, the households of Kerman were divided into four age groups. Moreover, their health poverty status was measured using the household financial contribution approach and rate and gap measures. For data analysis, STATA and Excel Software were used.
The health poverty rate showed large fluctuations in both urban and rural households with children. The highest rate of health poverty in urban and rural households was observed in the year 1989. A decline was observed in the rate and depth of health poverty during the first to third development plan in rural and urban areas. However, this trend showed an increase during the fourth development plan. Health poverty rate in the year 2012 (beginning of the fifth development program plan) increased in both rural and urban areas of the province, but poverty gap showed some fluctuations.
The present study showed that, in total, the rate and severity of health poverty was higher in rural areas compared to urban areas. These research findings showed the lack of efficient and effective policies to reduce household experience of catastrophic health care expenditures, especially in rural areas.