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KMID : 0904520120310010055
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Health and Medical Sociology
2012 Volume.31 No. 1 p.55 ~ p.81
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Equity in Health Status and Health Care Utilization by Income: Analyzing different populations in old adults
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Kim Young-Sun
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Abstract
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The purpose of this study is to examine the degree of income-related equity in health status and health care utilization among the young-old(65～69), the old-old(70～79), and the oldest old(80 over). This study used the cross-sectional data from the National Survey on the Elderly(2008) and the samples were 12,087 individuals aged over 65. We measured equity in health status and health care utilization by income using concentration index and Le Grand index.
The main results of this study are as follows: First, the concentration indices of all the indicators of health status are significantly negative. This means that there are socioeconomic differences in health equity and the lower income class has poorer health status than the higher income class. Second, with regard to the health care utilization, people with lower incomes are more likely to enter the hospital, whereas people with higher incomes are significantly more likely to spend the cost of health care than people with lower incomes. Third, Le Grand index also shows that the frequency of hospitalization is concentrated in the low income class, whereas total cost of health care is concentrated in the high income class.
The results of this study demonstrate that different populations in the elderly have the different health conditions and health care utilization and these differences can be a useful guide aiming to formulate equitable health polices.
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KEYWORD
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Health equity, Equity in health care utilization, Concentrationindex, Le grand index
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