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Biomedical subjects

Willard Manning

Publications and source records attributed to Willard Manning.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Relation of body mass index in young adulthood and middle age to Medicare expenditures in older age.

CONTEXT: Increasing prevalence of overweight/obesity and rapid aging of the US population have raised concerns of increasing health care costs, with important implications for Medicare. However, little is known about the impact of body mass index (BMI) earlier in life on Medicare expenditures (cardiovascular disease [CVD]-related, diabetes-related, and total) in older age. OBJECTIVE: To examine relationships of BMI in young adulthood and middle age to subsequent health care expenditures at ages 65 years and older. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Medicare data (1984-2002) were linked with baseline data from the Chicago Heart Association Detection Project in Industry (CHA) (1967-1973) for 9978 men (mean age, 46.0 years) and 7623 women (mean age, 48.4 years) (baseline overall age range, 33 to 64 years) who were free of coronary heart disease, diabetes, and major electrocardiographic abnormalities, were not underweight (BMI <18.5), and were Medicare-eligible (> or =65 years) for at least 2 years during 1984-2002. Participants were classified by their baseline BMI as nonoverweight (BMI, 18.5-24.9), overweight (25.0-29.9), obese (30.0-34.9), and severely obese (> or =35.0). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Cardiovascular disease-related, diabetes-related, and total average annual Medicare charges, and cumulative Medicare charges from age 65 years to death or to age 83 years. RESULTS: In multivariate analyses, average annual and cumulative Medicare charges (CVD-related, diabetes-related, and total) were significantly higher by higher baseline BMI for both men and women. Thus, with adjustment for baseline age, race, education, and smoking, total average annual charges for nonoverweight, overweight, obese, and severely obese women were, respectively, 6224 dollars, 7653 dollars, 9612 dollars, and 12,342 dollars (P<.001 for trend); corresponding total cumulative charges were 76, 866 dollars, 100,959 dollars, 125,470 dollars, and 174,752 dollars (P<.001 for trend). For nonoverweight, overweight, obese, and severely obese men, total average annual charges were, respectively, 7205 dollars, 8390 dollars, 10,128 dollars, and 13,674 dollars (P<.001 for trend). Corresponding total cumulative charges were 100,431 dollars, 109,098 dollars, 119,318 dollars, and 176,947 dollars (P<.001 for trend). CONCLUSION: Overweight/obesity in young adulthood and middle age has long-term adverse consequences for health care costs in older age.

Adult↗

Labor market costs of illness: prevalence matters.

We present a model of the labor market effects of health impairments. In particular, we describe several economic models in which health affects worker productivity and the demand for and supply of market labor services. These models provide a framework for estimating the social cost of prevalent health impairments - a necessary step in conducting cost-benefit analyses and in determining the cost-effectiveness of potential health interventions from a broader social perspective. Our approach suggests that several measures used in the literature provide an incomplete and systematically biased assessment of the economic impact of health impairment or of the treatment of illness and impairment. The problem arises because of the reliance on an approximation at the firm level and from the bias from the neglect of the effect of impairment in shifting the labor market equilibrium. If the illness is prevalent, the effects on labor market equilibrium wage rates could be substantial. In addition, many analyses also ignore the effects of illness on producers' surplus.

Alcoholism↗

Services integration and cost-effectiveness.

Alcohol treatment services are increasingly combined with other health and social services to address the needs of multiple-problem clients. Hence, it has been of growing policy interest to find the most effective and the most cost-effective ways of linking these services. This symposium presents some recent studies in this area. The small but growing body of studies in this area has great potential to inform public policy debates.

Alcoholism↗

Death, hospitalization, and economic associations among incident hemodialysis patients with hematocrit values of 36 to 39%.

Anemia treatment with epoetin has led to dramatic increases in hematocrit levels since 1989. Studies have demonstrated that morbidity and mortality rates are lower when hematocrit values are within the Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (DOQI) target range (33 to 36%). Recently, clinical studies demonstrated that patients without cardiovascular disease exhibited lower morbidity rates and improved cognitive function with hematocrit values of >36%. One prospective trial, in contrast, demonstrated that normal hematocrit values among patients with cardiac disease were associated with higher mortality rates. These conflicting results have led to concerns regarding the risks and benefits associated with hematocrit values between 36 and 42%. To address these concerns, a recent cohort of 1996 to 1998 incident hemodialysis patients was studied, with assessments of the risks of death and hospitalization and the medical costs associated with hematocrit values of >36%. Patients survived at least 9 mo after dialysis initiation, and comorbidity, disease severity, and hematocrit levels were determined for months 4 to 9. Patients were grouped on the basis of hematocrit values, i.e., <30, 30 to <33, 33 to <36, 36 to <39, or > or =39%, with 1 yr of follow-up monitoring. A Cox regression model was used to evaluate all-cause and cause-specific mortality and hospitalization rates. The economic evaluations included analyses with Medicare Parts A and B allowable expenditures as the dependent variable and the same clinical characteristics as independent variables. For patients with hematocrit values of > or =36%, mortality rates were not different, hospitalization rates were 16 to 22% lower, and expenditures were 8.3 to 8.5% less, compared with patients with hematocrit values of 33 to <36%. These observations do not demonstrate causality. Additional long-term studies are needed to assess the risks of higher hematocrit values among all patients and patients with cardiovascular disease.

Aged↗