[Factors affecting three elements of the medical expense for the aged].

The per capita medical expense was studied for inpatients and outpatients aged 70 years and over under the National health insurance for fiscal year 1990 among 678 cities in Japan. Per capita medical expense consists of three factors, i.e. service-acceptance rate, bed-days per receipt and the medical expense per day. To clarify what factors are associated with these three factors of the medical expense, multiple regression analyses were performed using several indices of medical supply and medical need, family type, health projects and socioeconomics. The results are as follows. (1) The major factor that was correlated significantly and positively with the expense and service-acceptance rate for inpatients was medical supply. (2) Both the bed-days receipt and the service-acceptance rate for inpatients were negatively correlated with cerebral apoplexy. (3) Medical expenses per day for inpatients and outpatients were negatively correlated with medical supply, such as the number of hospitals per population. (4) The major factor that was correlated positively with medical expenses for outpatients was medical need, such as cancer and heart disease. (5) Service-acceptance rate of outpatients was correlated positively with the factors of accessibility, such as number of medical institutions per area. (6) Days per receipt of outpatients was correlated negatively with the level of health among cities.