Terner Michael, Reason Ben, McKeag Ali Moses, Tipper Brenda, Webster Greg
Primary Health Care Information (PHCi) Program, Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).
Healthc Q. 2011;14(3):19-22. doi: 10.12927/hcq.2011.22485.
Which has more impact on health status and the use of healthcare services among seniors: age or the number of chronic conditions? To answer this question, we used responses from the 2008 Canadian Survey of Experiences with Primary Health Care to assess the effect of these two factors on seniors' self-perceived health status, prescription medication use and healthcare service use. We discovered that seniors with at least three chronic conditions were more likely to report poor health, take more prescription medications and use more healthcare services than seniors with two or fewer chronic conditions. The number of chronic conditions is better than age as a predictor of self-reported health status, prescription medication use and healthcare service use by seniors. Seniors with at least three conditions represented 24% of all seniors, but they accounted for 40% of the use of healthcare services. Health policies and programs focused on the prevention and improved management of co-morbidities among seniors could have a significant and positive impact on seniors' health (including self-perceived health status) and their use of healthcare services.
年龄和慢性病数量，哪一个对老年人的健康状况及医疗服务利用的影响更大？为回答这个问题，我们利用了2008年加拿大初级卫生保健体验调查的结果，来评估这两个因素对老年人自我感知健康状况、处方药使用及医疗服务利用的影响。我们发现，患有至少三种慢性病的老年人比患有两种或更少慢性病的老年人更有可能报告健康状况不佳、服用更多处方药并使用更多医疗服务。作为老年人自我报告健康状况、处方药使用及医疗服务利用的预测指标，慢性病数量比年龄更具优势。患有至少三种疾病的老年人占所有老年人的24%，但他们却占了医疗服务使用量的40%。关注老年人共病预防和改善管理的卫生政策及项目，可能会对老年人的健康（包括自我感知的健康状况）及其医疗服务利用产生重大的积极影响。
