Catastrophic Health Expenditure and its Determinants Among Older Adults in Tehran, Iran

Background: The phenomenon of aging is among the important evolution currently happening in Iran.The rise in older adults population presents health policy-makers with new challenges and highlight theneed for the evidence of providing and funding services to deal with this phenomenon.Methods: The present cross-sectional study was performed on 550 randomly selected older adults from22 districts of Tehran, Iran in 2017. Data were collected using the household healthcare expenditurequestionnaire. The catastrophic health expenditures (CHEs) were defined as health expenditureexceeding 40% of the capacity to pay. The relationship between household characteristics andcatastrophic expenditures was determined using multivariate logistic regression model in Stata version 14.Results: The findings showed that 11.1% of older adults were burdened with. The highestfrequency of catastrophic expenditures was observed in the first and second income quintileshousehold size of five and higher, the unemployed, and those with no supplementary insurance.According to the multivariate model, household income was an independent predictor for CHEs.Compared to the first quintiles of income, being at the third quintile decreased the odds ofencountering CHEs by 42% and the forth quintiles and higher decreased the odds of CHEs by78%.Conclusion: This study revealed an obvious prevalence of CHEs among older adults. Lowerhousehold income was associated with higher probability of suffering from CHEs.