The perceived impact of COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare cost in Bangladesh

Abstract

The study showed the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare expenses including the price of medicines, protective equipment, medical devices, healthcare facilities, and food. A self-administered questionnaire was used as the data collection tool and 400 people from different Bangladesh divisions (Dhaka, Chittagong, Barisal, Khulna, Mymensingh, Rajshahi, and Sylhet) participated in this study. Multiple regression analysis was used to estimate the impact of independent variables on dependent variables. R programming environment was used to perform the statistical analysis. Cronbach’s alpha was used for determination of reliability and found acceptable internal consistency. The price of protective equipment (POPE), the price of a healthcare facilities (POHCF), the consequences of rising prices (CRP), and COVID-19 were independent variables. COVID-19 (CRP) was a dependent variable that measured COVID-19’s impact (IC). The results of the regression analysis indicated a positive and significant impact of POPE, POHCF, and CRP on IC. However, the variance explained was still low (54.4%). Bangladesh should control the prices of all goods and services because of their influence on the impact of COVID-19. Future research should be conducted to discover other variables that affect the impact of COVID-19.