The impact of age, hypertension status and self-rated health on medical care utilization

[[abstract]]ABSTRACTHypertension and hypertension-related diseases has long been ranked among the top ten leading causes of death in Taiwan. This has not only caused patients and their families’ long-term physiological pain and psychological pressure, but also increased financial burden for the government and the society. The purpose of this paper is to explore hypertension patients’ related medical expenses through their self-rated health.This study uses the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), conducted in 2005 by the National Health Council, it used a multi-stage stratified systematic sampling, and survey response rate was 80.6%. Among the 12,165 study subjects, 12080 (99.3%) had complete data for Short Form-36 and other variables (gender, education level, marital status), but there are still 93 questionnaires uncompleted in age or hypertension status, therefore, the total valid copies of questionnaire are 11,987.The results showed that despite of age and hypertension status, female spend more in medical expenses than male. Those who were over 40 years old and received higher education level were more likely to have higher total outpatient costs and total pharmaceutical expenses. In addition to marital status, those who were not married consumed less total medical cost compared with their married counterparts. Those over 40 years of age with or without hypertension were more likely to have higher total outpatient and pharmaceutical expenses than those less than 40 years old. Increases in the Charlson comorbidity index indicates severe physical health, so regardless of age and hypertension status, the level of the total medical costs was higher for those with higher cormobidity scores.With the development in medical, people’s average life expectancy is getting longer, therefore to prevent or give treatment of chronic disease is an important issue. In addition to the planning and promotion of the health policy from the government departments, people’s self-health care and cognitive is also very important. This study suggest that the policy to promote correct understanding of hypertension and its related complications according to different age groups is important, as this can lead people to the good self-health management. This will not only help reducing medical expenses, but also to gain a better quality of life