Non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (NCFBE) is a rare, chronic lung disease characterized by bronchial inflammation and permanent airway dilation. Chronic infections with P. aeruginosa have been linked to higher morbidity and mortality. To understand the impact of P. aeruginosa in NCFBE on health care costs and burden, we assessed healthcare costs and utilization before and after P. aeruginosa d...

OBJECTIVES To assess knowledge and understanding of cost-sharing responsibilities and whether that knowledge and understanding influence actual and perceived use of healthcare services. STUDY DESIGN A 3000-person random sample was drawn from a state employee database in Massachusetts. METHODS Survey responses and claims analyses were used to assess knowledge of cost sharing and healthcare u...

Through improved adherence, once-monthly injectable extended-release naltrexone (XR-NTX) may provide an advantage over other oral agents approved for alcohol and opioid dependence treatment. The objective of this study was to evaluate cost and utilization outcomes between XR-NTX and other pharmacotherapies for treatment of alcohol and opioid dependence. Published studies were identified through...

This paper examines the influence of health insurance status on healthcare use in rural Ghana using 286 sampled respondents from four rural communities in the Bekwai Municipality. Data were obtained using structured interview and Pearson's Chi square and bivariate regressions were used to analyse data. The results show low healthcare utilization among study participants, with most respondents h...

OBJECTIVES To determine whether participation in a physical activity benefit by Medicare managed care enrollees is associated with lower healthcare utilization and costs. DESIGN Retrospective cohort study. SETTING Medicare managed care. PARTICIPANTS A cohort of 1,188 older adult health maintenance organization enrollees who participated at least once in the EnhanceFitness (EF) physical ac...

BACKGROUND Atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with increased risk of hospitalization. Little is known about the impact of AF on utilization of noninpatient health care or about sex or race differences in AF-related utilization. We examined rates of inpatient and outpatient utilization by AF status in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study. METHODS AND RESULTS Participants with inci...

BACKGROUND Physical inactivity in children is an important risk factor for the development of various morbidities and mortality in adulthood, physical activity already has preventive effects during childhood. The objective of this study is to estimate the association between physical activity, healthcare utilization and costs in children. METHODS Cross-sectional data of 3356 children aged 9 t...

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Perception of the need for oral healthcare plays a key role in creating motivation and demand for utilization of oral healthcare services. Furthermore, while the lack of resources, people with perceived needs to oral healthcare, due to the higher profit potential of services, will be on higher priority for services. The aim of this study was to undertake a systematic review ...

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study is to evaluate the prescribing pattern of analgesics and analyze the rational use of analgesic in orthopedic in-patient department of tertiary care teaching hospital, Guwahati, Assam. SUBJECTS AND METHODS An observational and cross-sectional study was carried out for 1 month from April to May 2014. Collected data included age, sex, diagnosis and line of manage...

BACKGROUND Physicians are considered to be the most informed consumers in the use of medical services since they have more information about diseases or medical technology. However, although plenty of researchers have suggested that different medical seeking behavior exists among physicians, very few empirical studies have been conducted to investigate differences in medical utilization between...