Health-Related Quality of Life and Health Service Use among Multimorbid Middle-Aged and Older-Aged Adults in China: A Cross-Sectional Study in Shandong Province.
Int J Environ Res Public Health
; 17(24)2020 12 11.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-33322307
ABSTRACT
(1) Background:
The management of multiple chronic diseases challenges China's health system, but current research has neglected how multimorbidity is associated with poor health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and high health service demands by middle-aged and older adults. (2)Methods:
A cross-sectional study was conducted in Shandong province, China in 2018 across three age groups Middle-aged (45 to 59 years), young-old (60 to 74 years), and old-old (75 or above years). The information about socio-economic, health-related behaviors, HRQOL, and health service utilization was collected via face-to-face structured questionnaires. The EQ-5D-3L instrument, comprising a health description system and a visual analog scale (VAS), was used to measure participants' HRQOL, and χ2 tests and the one-way ANOVA test were used to analyze differences in socio-demographic factors and HRQOL among the different age groups. Logistic regression models estimated the associations between lifestyle factors, health service utilization, and multimorbidity across age groups. (3)Results:
There were 17,867 adults aged 45 or above in our sample, with 9259 (51.82%) female and 65.60% living in rural areas. Compared with the middle-aged adults, the young-old and old-old were more likely to be single and to have a lower level of education and income, with the old-old having lower levels than the young-old (P < 0.001). We found that 2465 (13.80%) suffered multimorbidities of whom 75.21% were older persons (aged 60 or above). As age increased, both the mean values of EQ-5D utility and the VAS scale decreased, displaying an inverse trend to the increase in the number of chronic diseases (P < 0.05). Ex-smokers and physical check-ups for middle or young-old respondents and overweight/obesity for all participants (P < 0.05) were positively correlated with multimorbidity. Drinking within the past month for all participants (P < 0.001), and daily tooth-brushing for middle (P < 0.05) and young-old participants (P < 0.001), were negatively associated with multimorbidity. Multimorbidities increased service utilization including outpatient and inpatient visits and taking self-medicine; and the probability of health utilization was the lowest for the old-old multimorbid patients (P < 0.001). (4)Conclusions:
The prevalence and decline in HRQOL of multimorbid middle-aged and older-aged people were severe in Shandong province. Old patients also faced limited access to health services. We recommend early prevention and intervention to address the prevalence of middle-aged and old-aged multimorbidity. Further, the government should set-up special treatment channels for multiple chronic disease sufferers, improve medical insurance policies for the older-aged groups, and set-up multiple chronic disease insurance to effectively alleviate the costs of medical utilization caused by economic pressure for outpatients and inpatients with chronic diseases.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Qualidade de Vida
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Aceitação pelo Paciente de Cuidados de Saúde
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Multimorbidade
Tipo de estudo:
Observational_studies
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Prevalence_studies
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Prognostic_studies
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Qualitative_research
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Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Aged
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Aged80
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Female
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Humans
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Male
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Middle aged
País/Região como assunto:
Asia
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Int J Environ Res Public Health
Ano de publicação:
2020
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
China