The inadequacy of using means to compare medical costs of smokers and nonsmokers.
The costs associated with health risks have become a primary focus in the field of health promotion.  Unfortunately, the nature and quality of medical cost data are not ideal for simple comparisons of health risk groups.  Most health promotion professionals have had little or no training on how to interpret cost data and are thus unaware of the limitations and problems inherent in cost comparisons.  This report illustrates the problems encountered when using cost data, using examples from a medical claims dataset.  Specifically, the potential errors that result from comparing group means are shown.  A set of alternatives for practitioners and researchers to consider when comparing costs for different groups are offered.
Department of Family Medicine, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver 80220.
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Lynch
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HS
Teitelbaum
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Main
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003237:Connecticut; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D017048:Health Care Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007345:Insurance Claim Review; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012907:Smoking; D013223:Statistics as Topic