Study on the Influence of the Utilization of Community Home-based Care Services on the Medical Expenses of the Elderly

Dai Jifen; Dai Tao; Hu Jia

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1001-568X.2024.08.0002

Abstract：OBJECTIVE To analyze the impact of various community home-based care services utilization on the medical expenses of the elderly,so as to provide references for improving community home-based care services and promoting the realization of active aging and healthy aging.METHODS Based on the data of Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey in 2018,multi-factors linear regression and propensity score matching were used to analyze the impact of the utilization of various community home-based care services on the medical expenses of the elderly.RESULTS The utilization rates of daily care services,medical care services,spiritual and cultural services and mediation and rights protection services were 12.21%,52.12%,24.12%and 33.23%.The results of multi-factors linear regression analysis showed that in addition to various community home-based care services,the elderly's residence,age,self-rated health,drinking,annual physical examination,annual household income and the number of serious diseases in the past two years were significant influencing factors of their medical expenses.The results of propensity score matching analysis showed that the average treatment effects on treated of daily care services utilization ranged from 0.685 to 0.803,and the average treatment effects on treated of medical care services utilization was 0.405.CONCLUSION The utilization rate of community home-based care services for the elderly is low.The utilization of daily care services and medical care services will significantly increase the medical expenses of the elderly,while the utilization of spiritual and cultural services and mediation and rights protection services have no significant impact on the medical expenses of the elderly.