Determinants of health care costs in the senior elderly: age, comorbidity, impairment, or proximity to death?

ABSTRACT: Ageing is assumed to be accompanied by greater health care expenditures but the association is also viewed as a 'red herring'. This study aimed to evaluate whether age is associated with health care costs in the senior elderly, using electronic health records for 98,220 participants aged 80 years and over registered with the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink and linked Hospital Episode Statistics (2010-2014). Annual costs of health care utilization were estimated from a two-part model; multiple fractional polynomial models were employed to evaluate the non-linear association of age with predicted health care costs while also controlling for comorbidities, impairments, and death proximity. Annual health care costs increased from 80 years (£2972 in men, £2603 in women) to 97 (men; £4721

SUBMITTER: Hazra NC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6008359 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature