title: The Bambuí Health and Aging Study (BHAS): private health plan and medical care utilization by older adults.
abstract: The aim of this cross sectional study was to investigate whether holding a private health plan affects the consumption of medical services (hospitalization and visits to a doctor) and use of medications by older adults. All residents in Bambuí town (Minas Gerais, Brazil) aged >/= 60 years (n = 1,742) were selected. From these, 92.2% were interviewed and 85.9% were examined (blood tests and physical measurements). After adjustments for worse health status, reported less visits to a doctor, and used a small number of prescribed medications. The main explanation for the aged holding a private health plan was economic, not health. Even though those who had only public health coverage complained more in relation to medical care (70.9%), an important proportion of the aged with a private health care plan presented some kind of complaint (45.2%). Another worrying factor was the difficulty to acquire medication because of financial problems (47.2 and 25.2% reported, respectively). Further investigations are needed to verify whether our results can be generalized to other communities of the country.
authors.affiliation: Núcleo de Estudos em Epidemiologia e Antropologia do Envelhecimento, Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Belo Horizonte, MG, 30190-002, Brasil. lima-costa@cpqrr.fiocruz.br
authors.forename: Maria Fernanda F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Lima-Costa
authors.forename: Henrique L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Guerra
authors.forename: Josélia O A
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Firmo
authors.forename: Pedro G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Vidigal
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Uchoa
authors.forename: Sandhi M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Barreto
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D004363:Drug Utilization / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006299:Health Services for the Aged / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D017061:Prepaid Health Plans; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors