Department of Community Health, Faculty of Clinical Sciences, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Email:
Department of Community Health, Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
West Afr J Med. 2024 Jul 30(7):796-804.
Physicians are key to the clinical decision-making of their clients. Their perception and practice of medical tourism could influence their clients' uptake of the same. This study assessed the perceptions about medical tourism among physicians practising in public tertiary health facilities in Oyo state. We then assessed its practice and cost burden among physicians who had ever engaged in medical tourism.
This cross-sectional study conducted in 2019 involved 360 physicians working in two public tertiary health facilities in Oyo State, selected via a two-stage simple random sampling technique. Quantitative data was collected using a semi-structured pre-tested self-administered tool. Data collected was analysed using STATA 17.0 with statistical significance inferred at p<0.05.
The physicians' mean score on knowledge of medical tourism was 4.0±0.8 of 5 marks obtainable. Organ transplant was the most commonly known reason for engaging in medical tourism. Destination country hospital facilities and equipment ranked highest and cost considerations ranked least of perceived factors promoting it. Twenty-four (6.7%) of the physicians studied ever engaged in medical tourism, while 258 (71.7%) intend to if the need arose. The most popular destination country was India. The mean direct cost of engaging in medical tourism was $3,351±$4,357. The mean indirect cost was $2,389±$774, while the mean total cost was $5,739.6±$4,841.8. The majority of the 24 physicians (83.3%) who engaged in medical tourism suffered catastrophic health spending from it.
High burden of medical tourism on the physicians. Funds spent on medical tourism by them could be used to strengthen the delivery of health services, such as ensuring children are fully immunised.
医生是客户临床决策的关键。他们对医疗旅游的看法和实践可能会影响客户对医疗旅游的接受程度。本研究评估了在奥约州公立三级医疗机构工作的医生对医疗旅游的看法。然后，我们评估了曾经从事过医疗旅游的医生的实践和费用负担。
这是一项 2019 年进行的横断面研究，涉及奥约州两家公立三级医疗机构的 360 名医生，采用两阶段简单随机抽样技术选择。使用经过预测试的半结构化自我管理工具收集定量数据。使用 STATA 17.0 分析收集的数据，推断统计显著性 p<0.05。
医生对医疗旅游的知识平均得分为 5 分中的 4.0±0.8 分。器官移植是从事医疗旅游的最常见原因。目的地国家医院的设施和设备排名最高，而成本考虑因素排名最低，是促进医疗旅游的感知因素。在所研究的医生中，有 24 名（6.7%）曾从事过医疗旅游，而 258 名（71.7%）如果有需要，他们打算从事医疗旅游。最受欢迎的目的地国家是印度。从事医疗旅游的平均直接费用为 3351 美元±4357 美元。平均间接费用为 2389 美元±774 美元，平均总成本为 5739.6 美元±4841.8 美元。从事医疗旅游的 24 名医生中，有 20 名（83.3%）遭受了灾难性的医疗旅游支出。
医生面临着沉重的医疗旅游负担。他们用于医疗旅游的资金可以用于加强卫生服务的提供，例如确保儿童全面接种疫苗。
