Cost of stroke in Mexico

We report the estimated costs of stroke management in Mexico. The cost of stroke in our country has not been formerly described previously. The costs were estimated from population-based studies: the national survey on stroke and those performed by the Health Mexican Foundation. Other sources were the administration of private hospitals and official statistics obtained from the National Institute of Informatic, Statistic and Geography. Of 89 million Mexicans, 6.1% are older than 60 years. Based on the national stroke survey, it was calculated that 32,000 people suffer from stroke each year. Their mean age is 63 years. The estimated cost of acute stroke care in 1994 was $7,700 (U.S. dollars) per patient in private hospitals and $6,600 in institutions of the health sector. The major portion of the costs were spent in diagnostic procedures (40%). Physician costs ranged from 12% to 19%. The average in-hospital stay was 9 days with 18% in hospital mortality rate. About 20% of the total population are not covered by health care institutions. The cost of stroke care in Mexico is lower than in industrialized countries because of a shorter hospital stay and lower personnel wages. Indirect costs for chronic care are unknown in our country. The number of people older than 60 years will increase in the next century; hence, the number of persons with stroke will rise.