Medical Debt Linked to Worse Health Status, Increased Mortality
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
MONDAY, March 4, 2024 -- At the county level, medical debt is associated with worse health status, premature death, and increased mortality rates, according to a study published online March 4 in JAMA Network Open.
Xuesong Han, Ph.D., from the American Cancer Society in Atlanta, and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional study at the U.S. county level to examine the associations of medical debt with health status, premature death, and mortality. The analysis included data from 2,943 counties.
On average, 19.8 percent of the population had medical debt. The researchers found that a 1-percentage point increase in the population with medical debt was associated with 18.3 and 17.9 more physically and mentally unhealthy days, respectively, per 1,000 people during the past month after adjustment for county-level sociodemographic characteristics, and with 1.12 years of life lost per 1,000 people and an increase of 7.51 per 100,000 person-years in age-adjusted all-cause mortality rate. For all leading causes of death, including cancer, heart disease, and suicide, associations of medical debt and elevated mortality rates were consistent (1.12, 1.39, and 0.09, respectively, per 100,000 person-years).
"Patients are increasingly burdened by high out-of-pocket costs for health care in the U.S., including problems paying medical bills and medical debt," Han said in a statement. "Our findings reinforce medical debt as an important social determinant of health, which, unfortunately, may threaten public health in the country."
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted March 2024
Read this next
AI-Assisted Contours Superior to Cognitively Defined Prostate Cancer Contours
WEDNESDAY, July 3, 2024 -- Artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted definition of prostate cancer contours reduces underestimation of the extent of prostate cancer, according to a...
Mean Cost of Bringing New Drug to U.S. Market Is $879.3 Million
TUESDAY, July 2, 2024 -- The mean cost of developing a new drug for the U.S. market is estimated to be $879.3 million when both drug development failure and capital costs are...
Patient–Primary Care Provider Language Concordance Tied to Better Outcomes
TUESDAY, July 2, 2024 -- Patient-family physician language concordance is associated with a lower risk for adverse outcomes, according to a study published online June 3...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.