Health care service utilization among the elderly: findings from the Study to Understand the Chronic Condition Experience of the Elderly and the Disabled (SUCCEED project)

Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice - Tập 14 Số 6 - Trang 1044-1049 - 2008
Jason X Nie1, Li Wang2, C Shawn Tracy2, Rahim Moineddin3, Ross Upshur4
1Primary Care Research Unit, Sunnybrook Health Scineces Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada.
2research associate
3Biostatistician, Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, ON, Canada
4Director, Primary Care Research Unit, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada

Tóm tắt

Abstract

Rationale and objectives  Age‐related effects on health service utilization are not well understood. Most previous studies have examined only a single specific health care service or disease condition or have focused exclusively on economic variables. We aim to measure age‐related change in health care utilization among the elderly.

Methods  A population‐based retrospective cohort study was conducted using linked data from four administrative databases (OHIP, ODB, CIHI and RPDB). All Ontario residents over the age of 65 years and eligible for public health coverage were included in the analysis (approximately 1.6 million residents). Main outcome measures include utilization indicators for family physician visits, specialist physician visits, Emergency Department visits, drugs, lab claims, X‐rays, inpatient admissions, CT scans and MRI scans.

Results  The mean number of utilization events for Ontarians aged 65+ years for the 1‐year study period was 70 events (women = 76, men = 63). The overall absolute difference between the 65–69 age group and the 85+ age group was 155% (women = 162%, men = 130%), or 76 more events per person in the older group (women = 82, men = 61). Women averaged more events per person than men, as well as greater percentage differences by age. Drugs and diagnostics account for the majority of events. Only MRI and specialist visits were not higher among the older age groups.

Conclusions  At the population level, overall health care utilization would appear to increase significantly with age. It is unclear whether increasing health care utilization prevents morbidity, decreases mortality, or improves quality of life.

Từ khóa


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Thông tin xuất bản

Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice

Tập 14 Số 6

1044-1049

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