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The geography and economics of forgoing medical examinations or therapeutic treatments in Italy during the economic crisis.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:In Italy, the number of individuals who have forgone medical examinations or treatments for economic reasons is one of the highest in Europe. During the global economic crisis of 2008, the restrictive policies concerning access to healthcare and the quality of these services, which differs widely throughout the country, may have accentuated the territorial differences in unmet needs, thereby penalizing the more disadvantaged segments of the population. The study aimed at evaluating the geographical and socioeconomic differences, in particular the risk of poverty, that influence forgoing healthcare services in Italy. METHODS:Cross-sectional Italian data from the 2004-2015 European Survey on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) were used. Hierarchical logistic models were tested, using as the outcome unmet needs for medical examinations or treatment in the preceding 12?months, and as risk factor the condition of being at risk of poverty. Age, sex, citizenship, educational level, presence of chronic or severely limiting diseases and self-perceived health were used as adjustment factors. Analyses were stratified over three time periods: pre-crisis (2004-2007), initial phase of the crisis (2008-2012) and second phase of the crisis (2013-2015). RESULTS:In Central Italy and particularly in Southern Italy, a marked increase (9.9% in 2013-2015) was seen in the overall rate of unmet needs as well as in that of unmet needs due to economic reasons. The probability of unmet needs was higher, and increased over time, for those at risk of poverty (aOR?=?1.54 in 2004-07, aOR?=?1.70 in 2008-12, aOR?=?2.21 in 2013-15). Individuals with a low educational level, who had a chronic or severely limiting disease, who perceived their health as not good and immigrants had a higher risk of forgoing healthcare. The regions in Southern Italy had a significantly higher probability of unmet needs. CONCLUSIONS:A strong association was found between the probability of forgoing medical examination or treatment and being at risk of poverty. Study results underline the need for healthcare policies aimed at facilitating access to healthcare services, particularly in the South, by developing a progressive mechanism of contribution to healthcare costs proportional to income and by guaranteeing free access to the poor.

SUBMITTER: Petrelli A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6720380 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The geography and economics of forgoing medical examinations or therapeutic treatments in Italy during the economic crisis.

Petrelli Alessio A Rosano Aldo A Rossi Alessandra A Mirisola Concetta C Cislaghi Cesare C

BMC public health 20190902 1

<h4>Background</h4>In Italy, the number of individuals who have forgone medical examinations or treatments for economic reasons is one of the highest in Europe. During the global economic crisis of 2008, the restrictive policies concerning access to healthcare and the quality of these services, which differs widely throughout the country, may have accentuated the territorial differences in unmet needs, thereby penalizing the more disadvantaged segments of the population. The study aimed at evalu ...[more]

PMID: 31477064

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Project description:BackgroundGrowing social inequities have made it important for general practitioners to verify if patients can afford treatment and procedures. Incorporating social conditions into clinical decision-making allows general practitioners to address mismatches between patients' health-care needs and financial resources.ObjectivesIdentify a screening question to, indirectly, rule out patients' social risk of forgoing health care for economic reasons, and estimate prevalence of forgoing health care and the influence of physicians' attitudes toward deprivation.DesignMulticenter cross-sectional survey.ParticipantsForty-seven general practitioners working in the French-speaking part of Switzerland enrolled a random sample of patients attending their private practices.Main measuresPatients who had forgone health care were defined as those reporting a household member (including themselves) having forgone treatment for economic reasons during the previous 12 months, through a self-administered questionnaire. Patients were also asked about education and income levels, self-perceived social position, and deprivation levels.Key resultsOverall, 2,026 patients were included in the analysis; 10.7% (CI95% 9.4-12.1) reported a member of their household to have forgone health care during the 12 previous months. The question "Did you have difficulties paying your household bills during the last 12 months" performed better in identifying patients at risk of forgoing health care than a combination of four objective measures of socio-economic status (gender, age, education level, and income) (R(2) = 0.184 vs. 0.083). This question effectively ruled out that patients had forgone health care, with a negative predictive value of 96%. Furthermore, for physicians who felt powerless in the face of deprivation, we observed an increase in the odds of patients forgoing health care of 1.5 times.ConclusionGeneral practitioners should systematically evaluate the socio-economic status of their patients. Asking patients whether they experience any difficulties in paying their bills is an effective means of identifying patients who might forgo health care.

Project description:Forgoing healthcare for economic reasons has been previously associated with adverse health outcomes, including a higher risk of hospitalization, a lower quality of life, and worse self-reported health. However, the exact cause-to-effect relation between forgoing healthcare and health-related outcomes has been insufficiently described. Here, we investigate the prospective health consequences of forgoing healthcare for economic reasons using data from "ReBus" (N = 400), a prospective study examining the health consequences of forgoing healthcare (Baseline: 2008-2013, Follow-up: 2014-2016). Using regression models, we explored the baseline determinants of forgoing healthcare, including socioeconomic, demographic, and pre-existing health-risk factors, and examined the associations between forgoing healthcare at baseline and health deterioration at follow-up, using highly pertinent biomarkers (glucose, glycated hemoglobin, lipids, blood pressure) and SF-36 questionnaire data. Low income, low occupation, low education, and smoking were associated with higher odds of forgoing healthcare at baseline. Forgoing healthcare for economic reasons at baseline was subsequently related to detrimental changes in glucose, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL), and blood pressure (BP) at follow-up, independently of baseline socioeconomic factors (Glucose-β = 0.19, 95%CI[0.03;0.34], HDL-β = -0.07, 95%CI[-0.14;0.01], BP-β = 3.30, 95%CI[-0.01;6.60]). Moreover, we found strong associations between forgoing healthcare and adverse SF-36 health scores at follow-up, with individuals forgoing healthcare systematically displaying worse health scores (6%-11% lower scores). For the first time, we show that forgoing healthcare for economic reasons predicts adverse health-related consequences 2-8 years later. Our findings shall further encourage the implementation of public health measures aimed at identifying individuals who forgo healthcare and preventing the adverse health consequences of unmet medical needs.

Project description:INTRODUCTION:The narrative of prosperous economic livelihood of tobacco farmers in Kenya as alleged by the tobacco industry deserves challenge as evidence increasingly suggests that smallholder tobacco farmers are making little or no profits. Article 17 of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control encourages viable alternative livelihoods for tobacco farmers. There is little evidence, however, on how tobacco farmers make livelihood choice decisions. METHODS:A total of 527 purposefully selected smallholder tobacco farmers in Kenya from three main tobacco-growing regions participated in a 2017 economic livelihood survey. Geo-economic data were matched to surveyed farmers' Global Positioning System coordinates to estimate each farmer's access to nearby economic centers. Ownership of cell phones or radios was also used to estimate farmers' virtual access to nearby economic activities to understand better the role of information. Multivariate logistic regressions were used to control socioeconomic status and self-reported activity in nearby economic centers. RESULTS:Tobacco farmers rarely live within 10 km of an economic center. Results suggest that the further away farmers live from economic centers, the less likely they are to grow tobacco, but more likely to grow tobacco under contract. Also, farmers owning a cell phone or radio are not only less likely to grow tobacco, but also to not engage in farming under contract if they do grow tobacco. CONCLUSIONS:Physical and virtual access to nearby economic activities is significantly associated with tobacco farmers' livelihood choice decision and should be taken into consideration by decision makers while developing interventions for FCTC Article 17. IMPLICATIONS:Smallholder tobacco farmers in lower-income countries are making little or no profits, but few studies have been conducted to illuminate what perpetuates tobacco production, with such studies urgently needed to support governments to develop viable alternative livelihoods for tobacco farmers. This study suggests that geographic and technological factors that shape farmers' economic decisions can help policy makers tailor alternative livelihood policies to different regional contexts and should be a focus of future research in this area.

Project description:The Covid-19 pandemic is burning all over the world. National healthcare systems are facing the contagion with incredible strength, but concern regarding the psychosocial and economic effects is growing quickly. The PsyCovid Study assessed the influence of psychosocial variables on individual differences from the perceived impact of the Covid-19 outbreak on the issues of health and economy in the Italian population. Italian volunteers from different regions completed an online anonymous survey. The main outcomes were the perceived impact of the Covid-19 outbreak on health and the economy. A two-way MANOVA evaluated differences in the main outcomes, with geographical area (northern, central, and southern regions) and professional status (healthcare workers or not) as factors. We then tested the relationship linking psychosocial variables (i.e. perceived distress and social isolation, empathy, and coping style) to the main outcomes through two different mediation models. 1163 responders completed the survey (835 females; mean age: 42 ± 13.5 y.o.; age range: 18-81 y.o.) between March 14 and 21, 2020. Healthcare workers and people living in northern Italy reported a significantly worse outbreak impact on health, but not on the economy. In the whole sample, distress and loneliness were key variables influencing the perceived impact of the Covid-19 outbreak on health, while empathy and coping style affected the perceived impact on the economy. The Covid-19 pandemic is a worldwide emergency in terms of psychological, social, and economic consequences. Our data suggests that in the Italian population, actual differences in individual perception of the Covid-19 outbreak severity for health are dramatically modulated by psychosocial frailty (i.e., distress and loneliness). At the same time, problem-oriented coping strategies and enhanced empathic abilities increase people's awareness of the severity of the impact of the Covid-19 emergency on economics. There is an immediate need for consensus guidelines and healthcare policies to support interventions aimed to manage psychosocial distress and increase population resilience towards the imminent crisis.

Project description:Introduction: Economic topics appear in the medical studies curriculum at different times. Despite socio-political relevance, there is hardly any information about the degree of understanding that medical students have of "economics in medicine". The present study addresses the questions: What understanding of "economics in medicine" do medical students have before the start of the Practical Year? To what extent is economic teaching content understood as "economization" from outside the profession? Method: Magdeburg medical students in the 5th year of study, who participated in preparatory seminars for the Practical Year (PY) in 2014 and 2015 (60 participants each), assessed the relevance of various seminar topics four months prior to the start of the semester. On the basis of a three-stage qualitative-reconstructive partial evaluation, students' economic understanding is explored through secondary analysis: deductive derivation of the analysis units; integrative basic method ("segmentation", "micro-linguistic detailed analysis", "central theme"); development of a theoretical model by placing the central themes in context following Grounded Theory. Results: Based on the theory, 19 free-text answers with economic reference were identified from the total of all free-text answers. Each answer was assigned to at least one of a total of six themes of the students' understanding of economics: de-professionalizing economization, deciding and working economically, ambivalent requirements for efficiency and equity, the doctor as an entrepreneur, economics as relevant learning content, PY as a conflict-laden setting for economized working and learning. The theoretical model contains social, praxeological and professional references, which can themselves be ambivalent and conflicting. Conclusion: Despite their critical attitude, the surveyed medical students are neither hostile to economics nor do they regard economics in medicine as a taboo subject. Economic learning content is recognized as relevant. Educational formats that tackle the tension between patient and system orientation in a problem-oriented manner can be a productive setting for economic reflection.

Dataset Information

The geography and economics of forgoing medical examinations or therapeutic treatments in Italy during the economic crisis.

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The geography and economics of forgoing medical examinations or therapeutic treatments in Italy during the economic crisis.

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