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The impact of marital status on health care utilization among Medicare beneficiaries

To explain previous literature displaying that married Medicare beneficiaries achieve better health results at half the in line with person price of unmarried beneficiaries, we tested exclusive styles of healthcare usage as a capacity driver.

Using the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) records, we sought to understand usage patterns in married versus presently-not-married Medicare beneficiaries. We analyzed the connection among marital fame and healthcare utilization (labeled primarily based on putting of care utilization into outpatient, inpatient, and skilled nursing facility (SNF) use) the usage of logistic regression modeling. We designated fashions to govern for viable confounders based at the Andersen model of healthcare utilization.

Based on thirteen,942 respondents inside the MCBS dataset, 12,929 had whole records, accordingly forming the analytic pattern, of whom 6473 (50.Three%) were married. Of those, 58% (vs. 36% of these presently-now 徵婚社 not-married) had been male, 45% (vs. Forty seven%) were age >seventy five, 24% (vs. 70%) had a household earnings beneath $25,000, 18% (vs. 14%) had splendid self-said popular fitness, and fifty six% (vs. 36%) had private insurance. Compared to unmarried respondents, married respondents had a trend towards better odds of having a recent outpatient visit (unadjusted odds ratio (OR) 1.11, 95% self belief c program languageperiod (CI) 1.04–1.19, adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 1.10, (CI) zero.Ninety nine–1.22), and decrease odds in the yr previous to have had an inpatient live (AOR 0.84, CI zero.Seventy two–zero.Ninety nine) or a SNF stay (AOR 0.Fifty five, CI zero.40–zero.75).

Based on MCBS information, odds of self-suggested inpatient and SNF use were decrease among married respondents, at the same time as unadjusted odds of outpatient use were better, in comparison to presently-now not-married beneficiaries.

1 Introduction
There are motives to suspect that healthcare usage styles may differ in line with marital status. First, healthcare charges amongst married Medicare beneficiaries are about half of these now not married;[1] this distinction in costs is determined some of the nonelderly (age < sixty five) as nicely, however for the elderly, the distinction is substantially extra.[2] Second, socio-demographic elements have been confirmed to be crucial determinants of healthcare utilization.[3–5] Third, unmarried individuals have decreased get admission to to assets that could have an effect on utilization (e.G. Medical insurance and disposable earnings) than those who are married and can engage in riskier fitness-associated behaviors,[6,7] likely impacting utilization. Fourth, preceding research indicates that being married is predictive of better health popularity,[8–10] perhaps as a consequence of greater effective styles of usage. This study analyses fitness care usage styles primarily based on marital status and pursuits to explore the importance of and mechanisms by which marital popularity may also have an impact on healthcare usage, charges, and results.

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