Living longer in declining health

Developed countries are facing challenges in caring for people who are living longer but with a greater morbidity burden. Such people are likely to be regular users of healthcare. Objectives: Our analytical aim is to identify factors that explain healthcare costs among: (1) people over 55 years old;...

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Autores: Maynou, Laia|||0000-0002-0447-2959; Street, A.; García-Altés, Anna|||0000-0003-3889-5375
Tipo de documento: Artigo
Data de publicação:2023
País:España
Recursos:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositório:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:Inglês
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:301699
Acesso em linha:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/301699
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.115955
Nível de acesso:Acesso aberto
Palavra-chave:Adjusted morbidity groups
Long term conditions
Multimorbidity
Proximity to death
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author Maynou, Laia|||0000-0002-0447-2959
author2 Street, A.
García-Altés, Anna|||0000-0003-3889-5375
author2_role author
author
author_browse García-Altés, Anna|||0000-0003-3889-5375
Maynou, Laia|||0000-0002-0447-2959
Street, A.
author_facet Maynou, Laia|||0000-0002-0447-2959
Street, A.
García-Altés, Anna|||0000-0003-3889-5375
author_role author
collection Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
description Developed countries are facing challenges in caring for people who are living longer but with a greater morbidity burden. Such people are likely to be regular users of healthcare. Objectives: Our analytical aim is to identify factors that explain healthcare costs among: (1) people over 55 years old; (2) the top 5% and 1% high-cost users among this population; (3) those that transition into the top 5% and 1% from one year to the next; (4) those that appear in the top 5% and 1% over multiple years; and (5) those that remain in the top 5% and 1% over consecutive years. The data covered 2011 to 2017 and comprised 1,485,170 observations for a random sample of 224,249 people aged over 55 years in the Catalan region of Spain. We analysed each person's annual healthcare costs across all public healthcare settings related to their age, gender, socio-economic status (SES), whether or not and when they died, and morbidity status, through Adjusted Morbidity Groups. After controlling for morbidity status, the oldest people did not have the highest costs and were less likely to be among the most costly patients. There was also only a modest impact on costs associated with SES and with dying. Healthcare costs were substantially higher for those with a neoplasm or four or more long term conditions (LTCs), costs rising with the complexity of their conditions. These morbidity indicators were also the most important factors associated with being and remaining in the top 5% or top 1% of costs. Our results suggest that age and proximity to death are poor predictors of higher costs. Rather, healthcare costs are explained mainly by morbidity status, particularly whether someone has neoplasms or multiple LTCs. Morbidity measures should be included in future studies of healthcare costs.
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spelling Living longer in declining health Factors driving healthcare costs among older people Maynou, Laia|||0000-0002-0447-2959 Street, A. García-Altés, Anna|||0000-0003-3889-5375 Adjusted morbidity groups Long term conditions Multimorbidity Proximity to death Developed countries are facing challenges in caring for people who are living longer but with a greater morbidity burden. Such people are likely to be regular users of healthcare. Objectives: Our analytical aim is to identify factors that explain healthcare costs among: (1) people over 55 years old; (2) the top 5% and 1% high-cost users among this population; (3) those that transition into the top 5% and 1% from one year to the next; (4) those that appear in the top 5% and 1% over multiple years; and (5) those that remain in the top 5% and 1% over consecutive years. The data covered 2011 to 2017 and comprised 1,485,170 observations for a random sample of 224,249 people aged over 55 years in the Catalan region of Spain. We analysed each person's annual healthcare costs across all public healthcare settings related to their age, gender, socio-economic status (SES), whether or not and when they died, and morbidity status, through Adjusted Morbidity Groups. After controlling for morbidity status, the oldest people did not have the highest costs and were less likely to be among the most costly patients. There was also only a modest impact on costs associated with SES and with dying. Healthcare costs were substantially higher for those with a neoplasm or four or more long term conditions (LTCs), costs rising with the complexity of their conditions. These morbidity indicators were also the most important factors associated with being and remaining in the top 5% or top 1% of costs. Our results suggest that age and proximity to death are poor predictors of higher costs. Rather, healthcare costs are explained mainly by morbidity status, particularly whether someone has neoplasms or multiple LTCs. Morbidity measures should be included in future studies of healthcare costs. https://ddd.uab.cat/record/301699 https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.115955
spellingShingle Living longer in declining health
Maynou, Laia|||0000-0002-0447-2959
Adjusted morbidity groups
Long term conditions
Multimorbidity
Proximity to death
title Living longer in declining health
title_full Living longer in declining health
title_fullStr Living longer in declining health
title_full_unstemmed Living longer in declining health
title_short Living longer in declining health
title_sort Living longer in declining health
topic Adjusted morbidity groups
Long term conditions
Multimorbidity
Proximity to death
topic_facet Adjusted morbidity groups
Long term conditions
Multimorbidity
Proximity to death
url https://ddd.uab.cat/record/301699
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.115955