Chen Linhong, Xu Xiaocang
School of Marxism, Chongqing Technology and Business University, Chongqing 400067, China.
School of Economics and Management, Huzhou University, Huzhou 313000, China.
Behav Sci (Basel). 2023 Jul 7;13(7):566. doi: 10.3390/bs13070566.
There are many studies on the impact of physical activity on health but few studies on the relationship between physical activity and medical expenditure among the elderly. Based on the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey (CHARLS) database and selected 4456 valid samples, this paper used a two-part model to analyze the effects of high, moderate, and low physical activity intensity on medical expenditure. It is found that the intensity of physical activity was negatively correlated with medical expenditure, and the medical expenditure of the high physical activity intensity group was significantly lower than that of the low physical activity intensity group. For example, compared to people with no physical activity, the total medical expenditure decreased by 22.4%, 40.4%, and 62.5% per week in those with low, moderate, and high physical activity intensity. Thus, the government should provide more places for the elderly to exercise, planning special exercise areas for the elderly in community playgrounds, such as a dancing square, which will also help the elderly to increase their amount of exercise per week and develop a daily exercise habit.
关于体育活动对健康影响的研究有很多，但针对老年人体育活动与医疗支出之间关系的研究却很少。基于中国健康与养老追踪调查（CHARLS）数据库并选取4456个有效样本，本文采用两部分模型分析了高、中、低体育活动强度对医疗支出的影响。研究发现，体育活动强度与医疗支出呈负相关，高体育活动强度组的医疗支出显著低于低体育活动强度组。例如，与不进行体育活动的人相比，低、中、高体育活动强度人群每周的总医疗支出分别减少了22.4%、40.4%和62.5%。因此，政府应为老年人提供更多锻炼场所，在社区操场为老年人规划专门的锻炼区域，如广场舞广场，这也将有助于老年人增加每周的运动量并养成日常锻炼习惯。
