Air pollution and medical care use by older americans: A cross-area analysis

Health Affairs

Volumn 21, Issue 6, 2002, Pages 207-214

  Fuchs, Victor R ^a   Frank, Sarah Rosen ^b  

^a STANFORD UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

AGED; AIR POLLUTION; AMBULATORY CARE; ARTICLE; CLUSTER ANALYSIS; ECONOMICS; ELDERLY CARE; ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE; HEALTH; HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH; HOSPITALIZATION; HUMAN; MEDICARE; REGRESSION ANALYSIS; STATISTICS; UNITED STATES; UTILIZATION REVIEW;

AGED; AGED, 80 AND OVER; AIR POLLUTION; AMBULATORY CARE; ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE; HEALTH SERVICES FOR THE AGED; HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH; HOSPITALIZATION; HUMANS; MEDICARE; REGRESSION ANALYSIS; SMALL-AREA ANALYSIS; UNITED STATES; URBAN HEALTH;

EID: 0036831543     PISSN: 02782715     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.21.6.207     Document Type: Article

References (13)

1. See, for example, P.R. Portney, "Policy Watch: Economics and the Clean Air Act," Journal of Economic Perspectives (Autumn 1990): 73-81; and J. Kaiser, "Showdown over Clear Air Science," Science (25 July 1997): 466-469.
2. See, for example, P.R. Portney, "Policy Watch: Economics and the Clean Air Act," Journal of Economic Perspectives (Autumn 1990): 73-81; and J. Kaiser, "Showdown over Clear Air Science," Science (25 July 1997): 466-469.
3. K. Levit et al., "Inflation Spurs Health Spending in 2000," Health Affairs (Jan/Feb 2002): 172-181.
4. Although the data are more than a decade old, the key issue in this analysis is not the absolute quantities, which would vary over time, but rather the correlations between variables, which we expect are stable over relatively short time periods.
5. G. Lin, "A Regional Assessment of Elderly Disability in the U.S.," Social Science and Medicine 50, no. 7-8 (2000): 1015-1024.
6. An area cost-of-living index was calculated by the authors using an age- and sex-adjusted wage index and median house prices.
7. A. Deaton and D. Lubotsky, "Mortality, Inequality, and Race in American Cities and States," NBER Working Paper no. 8370 (Cambridge, Mass.: National Bureau of Economic Research, July 2001).
8. V.R. Fuchs, M.B. McClellan, and J. Skinner, "Area Differences in Utilization of Medical Care and Mortality among U.S. Elderly," NBER Working Paper no. 8628 (Cambridge, Mass.: NBER, December 2001).
9. Tobacco Institute, The Tax Burden on Tobacco, Historical Compilation, vol. 33 (Washington: Tobacco Institute, 1998); and Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, Cigarette Tax Evasion: A Second Look (Washington: Advisory Commission, 1985).
10. Tobacco Institute, The Tax Burden on Tobacco, Historical Compilation, vol. 33 (Washington: Tobacco Institute, 1998); and Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, Cigarette Tax Evasion: A Second Look (Washington: Advisory Commission, 1985).
11. A.H. Mokdad et al., "The Spread of the Obesity Epidemic in the United States, 1991-1998," Journal of the American Medical Association 282, no. 16 (1999): 1519-1522.
12. R.S. Pindyck and D.L. Rubinfeld, Econometric Models and Economic Forecasts, 3d ed. (New York McGraw-Hill, 1991).
13. Because pollution control leads to an increase in life expectancy, some increase in utilization could be expected, but this offset would be relatively small The percentage effect of pollution on utilization is much greater than its effect on life expectancy. Also, a great deal of utilization is in the last year of life, whenever it occurs.