Yen-Han Lee1, Yen-Chang Chang2, Mack Shelley3,4. 1. Department of Applied Health Sciences, School of Public Health, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, Indiana, USA. 2. Center for General Education, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu City, Taiwan. 3. Department of Political Science, Iowa State University, Ames Iowa, USA. 4. Department of Statistics, Iowa State University, Ames Iowa, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: China has made major improvements to its health-care system since the early 21st century. However, the effectiveness of preventive care utilization on health-care costs remains limited. This study seeks to understand the effect of preventive care utilization on outpatient and inpatient health-care expenses. METHODS: With the use of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey with older adults who were 65 years old or above (n = 2828), Tobit regression models were estimated to examine the association of preventive care utilization and expenses with medical treatments. Preventive care utilization in the previous wave was used to predict health-care costs for treatments in the next wave. Propensity score matching was used to reduce potentially confounding factors. FINDINGS: Results indicated that preventive care utilization was positively associated with outpatient health care among Chinese older adults (β = 231.8, standard error [SE] = 71.5, P < .01). The association between preventive care utilization and inpatient health-care expenses was not significant. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the results from previous studies suggesting that preventive care utilization can help reduce health-care expenses, this study does not support such a claim among Chinese older adults. The long-term association between preventive care utilization and health-care expenses for treatment should be studied further.
BACKGROUND: China has made major improvements to its health-care system since the early 21st century. However, the effectiveness of preventive care utilization on health-care costs remains limited. This study seeks to understand the effect of preventive care utilization on outpatient and inpatient health-care expenses. METHODS: With the use of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey with older adults who were 65 years old or above (n = 2828), Tobit regression models were estimated to examine the association of preventive care utilization and expenses with medical treatments. Preventive care utilization in the previous wave was used to predict health-care costs for treatments in the next wave. Propensity score matching was used to reduce potentially confounding factors. FINDINGS: Results indicated that preventive care utilization was positively associated with outpatient health care among Chinese older adults (β = 231.8, standard error [SE] = 71.5, P < .01). The association between preventive care utilization and inpatient health-care expenses was not significant. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the results from previous studies suggesting that preventive care utilization can help reduce health-care expenses, this study does not support such a claim among Chinese older adults. The long-term association between preventive care utilization and health-care expenses for treatment should be studied further.
Authors: Dantong Zhao; Zhongliang Zhou; Chi Shen; Xiaohui Zhai; Yaxin Zhao; Dan Cao; Qiwei Deng; Guanping Liu; Jeremy Fung Yen Lim Journal: Int J Public Health Date: 2022-08-05 Impact factor: 5.100