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Background: The gradual ageing of the population, and its effect on public spending, constitutes an urgent challenge for advanced economies. Through this study, we analyse the effect of older people, and their health and individual characteristics, on public health spending. Methods: Using logistic regression methods, we have analysed the use of different health services and health technologies by older people in Spain, controlled for several health, socioeconomic, and other individual factors. Results: The main factors that explain the consumption of both health services and health technology, above age, are related to the so-called need factors: self-reported health status, presence of chronic diseases, and disability. Conclusion: Knowing the main factors that imply greater public health spending is a topic of special interest for designing efficient health policies, in a context of growth in public health spending. In this way, preventive attention on the so-called need factors may be an important driver to improve the effectiveness of spending.
RESUMEN
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a global public health concern. DM is importantly linked to the modern lifestyle. Lifestyle-based interventions currently represent a critical preventive and therapeutic approach for patients with DM. Increasing physical activity has proven multiple benefits to prevent this condition; however, there is still room for further progress in this field, especially in terms of the effect of exercise in patients with already established DM. This study intends to examine the economic relationship between physical activity and direct/indirect costs in patients with DM. We analyze a national representative sample (n = 1496) of the general population of Spain, using available data from the National Health Survey of 2017 (NHS 2017). Our results show that 63.7% of the sample engaged in some degree of physical activity, being more frequent in men (67.5%), younger individuals (80.0%), and those with higher educational levels (69.7%). Conversely, lower levels of physical activity were associated with female sex, older subjects, and various comorbidities. Our study estimates that 2151 per (51% in direct costs) patient may be saved if a minimum level of physical activity is implemented, primarily, due to a decrease in indirect costs (absenteeism and presenteeism). This study shows that physical activity will bring notable savings in terms of direct and indirect costs in patients with DM, particularly in some vulnerable groups.
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