Caregivers' willingness-to-pay for a topical anesthetic cream for minor medical procedures in children.

BACKGROUND

Topical anesthetic cream (TAC) is not in use in pediatric practice in Sub-saharan regions. Knowledge of Caregivers' willingness-to-pay (WTP) for the cream is necessary for its deployment.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the WTP for TAC for minor pediatric painful procedures.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The study was a questionnaire-based conducted in two tertiary health institutions in southeast Nigeria. WTP was elicited using the contingent valuation method. The respondents were caregivers to children that attended out-patient clinics and in-patient. Data analysis was by Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software (SPSS) and STATA11.

RESULTS

Majority (94%) of the respondents were willing to pay for TAC. The mean maximum WTP was US$8.31. Multivariate analysis showed no statistically significant association between many variables with WTP for TAC.

CONCLUSIONS

Their average WTP was higher than the market price of topical anesthetic cream. Therefore, there is a good prospect for TAC if deployed in Nigeria.