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Cost Barriers (cost + barrier)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Medical Sciences50%

Selected Abstracts

State Prescription Drug Policies, Cost Barriers, and the Use of Acute Care Services by Medicaid Beneficiaries

JOURNAL OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, Issue 1 2009
SHARON TENNYSON
This paper examines the relationship between Medicaid pharmacy benefit restrictions and reports of prescription cost barriers by beneficiaries, and the relationship between prescription cost barriers and hospitalizations. The analysis uses data for adult Medicaid beneficiaries from the 2000,2001 and 2003 Community Tracking Survey household surveys, combined with data on states' Medicaid pharmacy benefit restrictions and characteristics of local health-care markets. Estimation results show that state Medicaid restrictions are associated with a higher incidence of reported drug cost barriers and that Medicaid recipients who report prescription cost barriers experience a greater number of hospitalizations. [source]

Long-Term Effectiveness of Screening for Hearing Loss: The Screening for Auditory Impairment,Which Hearing Assessment Test (SAI-WHAT) Randomized Trial

JOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 3 2010
Bevan Yueh MD
OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effect of hearing screening on long-term hearing outcomes in a general population of older veterans. DESIGN: Hearing loss in the elderly is underdetected and undertreated. Routine hearing screening has been proposed, but it is not clear whether screening identifies patients who are sufficiently motivated to adhere to treatment. A four-arm randomized clinical trial was conducted to compare three screening strategies with no screening in 2,305 older veterans seeking general medical care. SETTING: Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System. INTERVENTIONS: The screening strategies were a tone-emitting otoscope, a widely used questionnaire about hearing handicap, and a combination of both tools. MEASUREMENTS: Hearing aid use 1 year after screening. RESULTS: Of participants who underwent screening with the tone-emitting otoscope, questionnaire, and combined testing, 18.6%, 59.2%, and 63.6%, respectively, screened positive for hearing loss (P<.01 for test of equality across three arms). Patients proceeded to formal audiology evaluation 14.7%, 23.0%, and 26.6% of the time in the same screening arms, compared with 10.8% in the control arm (P<.01 for test of equality across four arms). Hearing aid use 1 year after screening was 6.3%, 4.1%, and 7.4% in the same arms, compared with 3.3% in the control arm (P<.01). Hearing aid users experienced significant improvements in hearing-related function and communication ability. CONCLUSION: In older veterans, screening for hearing loss led to significantly more hearing aid use. Screening with the tone-emitting otoscope was more efficient. The results are most applicable to older populations with few cost barriers to hearing aids. [source]

State Prescription Drug Policies, Cost Barriers, and the Use of Acute Care Services by Medicaid Beneficiaries

JOURNAL OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, Issue 1 2009
SHARON TENNYSON
This paper examines the relationship between Medicaid pharmacy benefit restrictions and reports of prescription cost barriers by beneficiaries, and the relationship between prescription cost barriers and hospitalizations. The analysis uses data for adult Medicaid beneficiaries from the 2000,2001 and 2003 Community Tracking Survey household surveys, combined with data on states' Medicaid pharmacy benefit restrictions and characteristics of local health-care markets. Estimation results show that state Medicaid restrictions are associated with a higher incidence of reported drug cost barriers and that Medicaid recipients who report prescription cost barriers experience a greater number of hospitalizations. [source]

Food patterns and socioeconomic indicators of food consumption amongst Inuvialuit in the Canadian Arctic

JOURNAL OF HUMAN NUTRITION & DIETETICS, Issue 2010
E. Erber
Abstract Background:, Inuvialuit in the Canadian Arctic have been experiencing a nutrition transition resulting in a decrease in nutrient-dense food consumption, which may, in part, explain this population's increasing chronic disease rates. Because the available literature is limited, the present study aimed to document the extent of this transition by examining current dietary patterns and socioeconomic factors affecting food group consumption. Methods:, This cross-sectional study was conducted in three Inuvialuit communities in the Northwest Territories between 2007 and 2008. A validated food frequency questionnaire determined intake frequency of fruit and vegetables (FV), traditional foods (TF) and non-nutrient-dense foods (NNDF). Socioeconomic status (SES) was assessed by questions on education, ownership of items in working condition used to create a Material Style of Life (MSL) scale and residents in household employed/on income support. Daily intake frequencies were compared by gender and age group using Wilcoxon rank sum test. SES association with food group intake was determined using logistic regression. Results:, The response rate was 65,85%. One hundred and seventy-five participants were female and 55 were male, aged 19,84 years [mean (SD) 44 (14)]. Mean frequencies of FV and TF consumption were 1.6 (1.5) and 1.6 (1.7) times per day, respectively. NNDF were reported 9.2 (3.0) times per day. The highest MSL score (>12) was significantly associated with higher fruit (,0.7 times per day) and higher TF intake (,1.1 times per day) compared with the lowest score (,7). An intermediate MSL score (8,12) was related to higher vegetable consumption (,0.4 times per day). Conclusions:, NNDF were consumed approximately seven times more frequently than TF in the present study, indicating that the dietary transition is well underway amongst Inuvialuit. Participants with higher SES were more likely to consume nutrient-dense foods, suggesting possible cost barriers. [source]