Household cost of road traffic accident-related injuries: A case study of St. Joseph Hospital, Koforidua in Ghana

Road traffic accidents (RTAs) are a prominent contributor to both mortality and morbidity, particularly affecting individuals aged 5-29 years. Road traffic Injuries impose substantial physical and economic burden on individuals, households, and governments, particularly in African nations. Thus, our study focuses on assessing the economic cost of road traffic accidents within the context of St. Joseph Hospital, Koforidua. A cross-sectional survey was conducted at the Emergency Unit of the St. Joseph Hospital with a sample size of 291 patients. A patient perspective was used in costing the management of RTAs. Data was descriptively analyzed with Microsoft Excel with means and standard deviations estimated for direct, indirect, and intangible costs to the patient. Total direct and indirect cost of road traffic accidents were approximately GHS1,973,801.28 (US$164,483.44) and GHS520,309.46 (US$43,359.12) respectively which represents 79.1 % and 20.9 % of the total cost. The annual average economic cost for all cases was GHS8,570.83 (US$714.24). Intangible costs were also found to be high, with 54.2 % patients rating their RTA burden to be between mild to moderate, 10.8 % as moderate to severe and 1.4 % as severe. RTA cost burden is huge for all households. Uninsured patients bear significantly higher costs than insured patients. Intangible costs were also high, prompting the need to provide psychological care to RTA victims and their families. Concerted efforts should be directed at strict enforcement, training, improvement of road infrastructure and legislation to reduce or curb road traffic accidents in LMICs.