Premium
The Patterns of Health Care Utilization by Elderly Europeans: Frailty and Its Implications for Health Systems
Author(s) -
Ilinca Stefania,
Calciolari Stefano
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
health services research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.706
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1475-6773
pISSN - 0017-9124
DOI - 10.1111/1475-6773.12211
Subject(s) - medicine , gerontology , health care , medline , environmental health , geriatrics , psychiatry , political science , law , economics , economic growth
Objective To examine the patterns of health care utilization by the elderly and test the influence of functional decline. Data Source and Study Design We used the three regular waves of the SHARE survey to estimate the influence of frailty on health care utilization in 10 European countries. We controlled for the main correlates of frailty and unobserved individual effects. Results The frail elderly increase their primary and hospital care utilization before the onset of disability. Multimorbidity moderates the effect of frailty on care utilization. Conclusions The prevalence of frailty is high in most countries and is expected to increase. This renders frailty prevention and remediation efforts imperative for two complementary reasons: to promote healthier aging and to reduce the burden on health systems.