1 Aging and Development Unit, African Population and Health Research Center, Nairobi, Kenya.
2 Department of Finance, School of Business, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.
Res Aging. 2019 Sep;41(8):794-820. doi: 10.1177/0164027519846604. Epub 2019 May 2.
This study examines the associations between financial inclusion, health-seeking behavior, and health-related outcomes in older persons in Ghana.
Employing data from a 2016/2017 Aging, Health, Psychological Well-Being and Health-Seeking Behavior Study ( = 1,200; mean age = 66.2 years [standard deviation = 11.9], we estimated regression models of self-rated health (SRH), psychological distress (PD), and health-care use (HCU) on a variable representing compositional characteristics of financial inclusion.
Multivariate logistic and generalized Poisson models showed that financial inclusion is positively associated with SRH (β = .104, standard error [] = .033, < .001) but inversely related to both PD (β = .038, = .032, < .005) and HCU (β = -.006, = .009, < .05) independent of other factors. However, after adjusting for socioeconomic and health-related factors, the associations were tempered and the effect of SRH decreased by 0.094 and PD increased by 0.065 points but HCU became statistically insignificant (β = -.020, = .0114, > .05).
Financial services inclusion profoundly appears to buffer against and retard health-related challenges in later life. Social and health policies targeted at improving the health outcomes of older people should include and build on the growing recognition of the importance of inclusive financial services and strategies.
本研究考察了加纳老年人中金融包容性、寻医行为和健康相关结果之间的关联。
本研究利用 2016/2017 年老龄化、健康、心理幸福感和寻医行为研究的数据（n=1200；平均年龄 66.2 岁[标准差 11.9]），我们估计了代表金融包容性构成特征的变量对自评健康（SRH）、心理困扰（PD）和医疗保健使用（HCU）的回归模型。
多元逻辑回归和广义泊松模型显示，金融包容性与 SRH 呈正相关（β=0.104，标准误[]=0.033，<0.001），但与 PD（β=0.038，=0.032，<0.005）和 HCU（β=-0.006，=0.009，<0.05）呈负相关，独立于其他因素。然而，在调整了社会经济和健康相关因素后，关联程度减弱，SRH 的效应降低了 0.094 分，PD 增加了 0.065 分，但 HCU 变得不具有统计学意义（β=-0.020，=0.0114，>0.05）。
金融服务包容性似乎深刻地缓冲和延缓了老年人的健康相关挑战。旨在改善老年人健康结果的社会和健康政策应包括并建立在对包容性金融服务和战略的重要性的日益认识之上。
