Age and gender differences in health services utilization

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the health service utilization patterns of elderly male and female enrollees of a large urban staff model Health Maintenance Organization (HMO). This HMO offered a wide spectrum of managed care services for its beneficiaries. A cross-sectional design was employed. The 759 randomly sampled elderly enrollees ranged in age from 66 to 99, with an average of 77.15 years. Approximately 60% were male and 40% were female; thus, the sample was not representative of the national older adult population. Three utilization patterns indicated that there were (a) nonsignificant relationships between age or gender and urgent care visits, prescribed pharmaceuticals, and out-of-pocket costs for pharmaceuticals; (b) linear relationships between age and gender and visits to HMO primary care providers (-), home-health care visits (+), emergency care visits (+), hospitalizations (+), and MD visits during hospitalizations (+); and (c) age was curvilinearly related to use of both HMO specialists and non-HMO specialists. These findings suggest that use of acute care services, including hospitalizations, inpatient physician visits, and emergency services increase with age but the use of primary care providers decreases with age. Gender was not a significant modifier of the relationship between age and utilization.

The Impact of a Novel Transfer Process on Patient Bed Days and Length of Stay: A Five-Year Comparative Study at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester and Mankato Quaternary and Tertiary Care Centers

“…The gender analysis revealed a consistent predominance of female patients within both transferred and general populations across the study period. This trend may reflect variations in healthcare needs and service utilization by gender, such as maternity and specialized women’s health services, which are often concentrated in particular facilities [ 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ]. Studies suggest that gender differences can affect healthcare access and transfer frequency, impacting outcomes like LOS and overall resource allocation.…”

Clinical Pathway of Elderly Persons with Lowered Mood in the Health Care Services

“…Our results differ from those of earlier studies, in that the utilization of general practitioners was less frequent among those with symptoms of depression than among those without. Murphy & Hepworth (36) reported that the use of primary health care decreases with age, while the utilization of emergency services and hospital wards increases. The use of primary health care was very similar between the two groups at the beginning of the study with regard to general practitioners, emergency care and mental health services.…”

Pronounced Gender And Age Differences Are Evident In Personal Health Care Spending Per Person

“…Although the literature is sparse, some researchers have concluded that, compared to other factors such as the patient's age, gender is not a leading determinant of health care spending and use within certain demographic groups and conditions. 5,6 Other researchers have found negligible gender differences in the money spent by specific payers. 7 However, our research shows that although total spending distributions by services and payers are relatively similar for males and females in most age groups, per capita differences between males and females are much more pronounced.…”