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Age and proximity to death as predictors of GP care costs: results from a study of nursing home patients
Author(s) -
O'Neill Ciaran,
Groom Lindsay,
Avery Anthony J.,
Boot Daphne,
Thornhill Karine
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
health economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.55
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1099-1050
pISSN - 1057-9230
DOI - 10.1002/1099-1050(200012)9:8<733::aid-hec564>3.0.co;2-u
Subject(s) - medicine , health care , demography , multivariate analysis , population , nursing homes , multivariate statistics , gerontology , environmental health , nursing , statistics , mathematics , sociology , economics , economic growth
This paper reports the results of a study of GP costs associated with a group of nursing home patients who died at various stages during a 12‐month period. The relationship between costs per month of care, patient age and proximity to death, where sex and diagnosis are controlled for are reported. A comparison of care costs for patients in their last year of life and those who survived the course of the study is also made. The study found that those in their last year of life were significantly more expensive to care for than those who survived the duration of the study, but that there was no statistically significant difference in age. In multivariate regression analyses, it was also found that among those who died during the study care costs were unrelated to age, but significantly related to proximity to death. The study supports the contention of others (Zweifel P, Felder S, Meiers M. Ageing of population and health care expenditure: a red herring? Health Econ 1999; 8: 485–496) that health care costs are more directly related to proximity to death than age. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.