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American Journal of Public Health, Vol 90, Issue 10 1608-1612, Copyright © 2000 by American Public Health Association

JOURNAL ARTICLE

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, SL Bernard, SB Fasick, R Schwartz, TR Konrad, MG Ory and GH DeFriese
Department of Health Policy and Administration, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 27599-7400, USA. sally_stearns@unc.edu

OBJECTIVES: Self-care includes actions taken by individuals to promote or ensure their health, to recover from diseases or injuries, or to manage their effects. This study measured associations between self-care practices (lifestyle 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 adaptations (general home modifications) were associated with reductions in monthly Medicare expenditures over a 12-month follow-up period. Expenditure reductions were found over the 48-month follow-up period for participation in active sports, gardening, and medical self-care. Practices associated with increases in expenditures included smoking, physical exercise (possibly of a more strenuous nature), and specific home modifications. CONCLUSIONS: Certain self-care practices appear to have significant implications for Medicare expenditures and presumptively for the health status of older adults. Such practices should be encouraged among older adults as a matter of national health policy.


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