households encountering with catastrophic health expenditures in qazvin, iran

introduction: direct cash payments are the principal sources of health care finance in most countries. health services may impose a regressive cost burden on households, especially in developing countries. the purpose of this study was to calculate households encountered with catastrophic healthcare expenditures in qazvin, iran. methods: the statistical society included 100 household equaled to 416 people. the data were collected using self-administered questionnaire. the capacity to pay of households was calculated by two methods. if the costs of household health were ≥ 40% of their capacity for payment, it would be considered as catastrophic expenditures. results: according to the findings, the rate of confronting households with health catastrophic expenditures had been estimated 24%, which dentistry services had the highest part in health catastrophic expenditures. conclusion: low capacity to pay families should be supported against these expenditures and more financial aid should be provided for them.