What affects the direct economic burden of non-communicable diseases on middle-aged and older adult people in Shaanxi Province?

Abstract

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading cause of death worldwide. NCDs affect the health status and the quality of life. In addition, continuous NCDs treatment expenses place a heavy economic burden on families and cause huge economic losses to the society. The prevention and treatment of NCDs and reduction of their economic burden are key public health issues. Considering middle-aged and older adult people as the focus, their basic socio-demographic characteristics and health behavior status of this group, and a pooled cross-sections regression model was then used to analyze the main factors affecting the direct economic burden. The results showed that from 2013 to 2018, the prevalence of NCDs among the middle-aged and older adult people in Shaanxi province as well as the direct economic burden of NCDs increased. The effect factors primarily included sex, age, employment status, income level, type of medical insurance, urban or rural residency, level of the health care-providing institutions, visiting times of 2-week, and length of hospital stay. Several measures can be taken to control the onset of NCDs and reduce their direct economic burden.