Investigating the Financial Burden of Inappropriate Use of Supplements in Children under Two Years of Age Receiving the HealthCare Services at Government Health Centers in Qom Province, Iran, in 2019

Given the importance of appropriate use of supplements in children and increasing the effectiveness of the financial resources, this study aimed at investigating the inappropriate use of the supplements. In this cross-sectional study, the data were collected using a researcher made questionnaire. Participants of the study were randomly selected from the cases whose information was available in the integrated health system (SIB). They comprised of 1220 children under two years of age who lived in Qom province. All samples were interviewed in comprehensive health care centers by trained nutritionists obtaining their demographic information including the place of residence, age, income, occupation and educational level, as well as their status of supplements usage. All statistical data were analyzed through SPSS 23. According to the results, it was estimated that 15.15% of financial resources of Iran's health system transformation plan were allocated to the family physician program and 29.11% of its financial resources were wasted. The total waste was   8,615,324,009 Rials (27.87%). Due to the significant percentage of wastage in resources allocated to providing supplements for children under two years of age, it is necessary to design and implement appropriate educational interventions for mothers of under two-year-old children and more precisely monitor the allocation of the resources in this field.