Relationships between the Physical Activity Intensity and the Medical Expenditure of Middle-Aged and Elderly People: Parsing from the CHARLS Database

Abstract

There are many studies on the impact of physical activity on health but few studies on the relationship between physical activity and medical expenditure among the elderly. Based on the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey (CHARLS) database and selected 4456 valid samples, this paper used a two-part model to analyze the effects of high, moderate, and low physical activity intensity on medical expenditure. It is found that the intensity of physical activity was negatively correlated with medical expenditure, and the medical expenditure of the high physical activity intensity group was significantly lower than that of the low physical activity intensity group. For example, compared to people with no physical activity, the total medical expenditure decreased by 22.4%, 40.4%, and 62.5% per week in those with low, moderate, and high physical activity intensity. Thus, the government should provide more places for the elderly to exercise, planning special exercise areas for the elderly in community playgrounds, such as a dancing square, which will also help the elderly to increase their amount of exercise per week and develop a daily exercise habit.