The economic implications of self-care: The effect of lifestyle, functional adaptations, and medical self-care among a national sample of medicare beneficiaries
Sc. Stearns et al., The economic implications of self-care: The effect of lifestyle, functional adaptations, and medical self-care among a national sample of medicare beneficiaries, AM J PUB HE, 90(10), 2000, pp. 1608-1612
Citations number
14
Categorie Soggetti
Public Health & Health Care Science","Envirnomentale Medicine & Public Health","Medical Research General Topics
Objectives. Self-care includes actions taken by individuals to promote or e
nsure their health, to recover from diseases or injuries, or to manage thei
r effects. This study measured associations between self-care practices (li
festyle practices, adaptations to functional limitations, and medical self-
care) and Medicare expenditures among a national sample of adults 65 years
and older.
Methods. Regression models of Medicare use and expenditures were estimated
by using the National Survey of Self-Care and Aging and Medicare claims for
4 years following a baseline interview.
Results. Lifestyle factors (swimming and walking) and functional adaptation
s (general home modifications) were associated with reductions in monthly M
edicare expenditures over a 12-month follow-up period. Expenditure reductio
ns were found over the 48-month follow-up period for participation in activ
e sports, gardening, and medical self-care. Practices associated with incre
ases in expenditures included smoking, physical exercise (possibly of a mor
e strenuous nature), and specific home modifications.
Conclusions. Certain self-care practices appear to have significant implica
tions for Medicare expenditures and presumptively for the health status of
older adults. Such practices should be encouraged among older adults as a m
atter of national health policy.