title: Race, gender, and health care service utilization and costs among Medicare elderly with psychiatric diagnoses.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate race and gender differences in health care service utilization and costs among the Medicare elderly with psychiatric diagnoses.
  
  
  METHODS
  The authors employ a 5% sample of Medicare beneficiaries from Tennessee (N = 33,680), and among those with a psychiatric diagnosis (n = 5,339), they examine health care service utilization and costs by race and gender.
  
  
  RESULTS
  African Americans had significantly higher rates of diagnosis for dementia, organic psychosis, and schizophrenia, whereas Whites had significantly higher rates for mood and anxiety disorders. White and African American men have higher rates of utilization of emergency and inpatient services and lower rates of outpatient utilization compared to White women and African American women. African American men have significantly higher health care costs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings suggest that race and gender interact to influence service utilization and preventive care, thereby driving up costs of care, for elderly persons with psychiatric diagnoses.
authors.affiliation: Tennessee State University, USA.
authors.forename: Baqar A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Husaini
authors.forename: Darren E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Sherkat
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Levine
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bragg
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Holzer
authors.forename: Kathyrn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: Van
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cain
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Moten
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American; D000368:Aged; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006296:Health Services / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D006278:Medicare / Q000191:economics; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000191:economics; D044469:Racial Groups; D012737:Sex Factors; D014481:United States; D044465:White People