Association of Osteoarthritis Prevalence With Age and Obesity Factors in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Countries: Panel Regression Model.

INTRODUCTION: According to cross-sectional analysis studies supported by microdata, incidence of Osteoarthritis increases in parallel with ageing and obesity, which are common predictors of the disease. The aim of this study is to reveal whether ageing and obesity have an effect on the increase in osteoarthritis prevalence by analyzing cross-country data from Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries. METHODS: We used static panel data regression analysis for 36 countries for the period between 2000 and 2017. Along with osteoarthritis prevalence, we used a group of people with a body mass index ≤ 30 within the population as obesity indicator and those older than 65 yrs within the population as ageing indicator. We calculated the effect of ageing and obesity on osteoarthritis prevalence using STATA 13 software. RESULTS: Both variable coefficients, age, and obesity, respectively, were found to be positive and statistically significant at the 1% level. This study shows that both ageing and obesity contribute to an increase in the osteoarthritis prevalence based on macro data from 36 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries. CONCLUSIONS: These findings have significant implications that can be used by both the public and policymakers for preventing the osteoarthritis. Adopting the preventive measures could contribute to decrease in health expenditures.

Direct Health Expenditure Analysis Related to Hearing Loss in Individuals Using Hearing Aids and Cochlear Implants.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the expenditures related to hearing devices and compare the differences in expenditures in child and adult users. Methods: A preliminary questionnaire was developed and conducted amongst hearing aid and cochlear implant users. A total of 178 patients (57.3% were hearing aid users, 42.7% were cochlear implant users) were included in the study and grouped as adults (first group, 50 patients), and children 1< (second group, 123 patients). Results: The results of the study showed that individuals used approximately 4.5% of their annual income as health expenditure related to hearing loss. This rate was over 5% for child users, and about 2.7% for adult users. Moreover, the expenditure made by adult users was below the amount of expenditure made for children in all health expenditure indicators. Conclusion: Supporting the family budget for hearing loss expenditures not covered by the public health insurance will minimize the financial problems caused by the disability.

The causes of aging and relationship between aging and health expenditure: An econometric causality analysis for Turkey.

INTRODUCTION: Demographic changes since the second half of the last century have led to an aging population, and this is considered an important economic and social problem worldwide. In addition to the social, economic, and political effects of aging, the relationship between aging and health expenditure is also being recognized in recent years. The two main generally accepted underlying causes of aging populations are longer life expectancy and lower fertility. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the main causes of aging and the relationship between health expenditure and aging using causality econometric models on data samples from Turkey. METHODS: The Toda and Yamamoto causality approach, which is currently the preferred method, was chosen to obtain robust results on dual causality relationships between aging, fertility, life expectancy, and health expenditures. The data used in the estimation of causality were obtained from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) statistics for Turkey, and the E-Views 8.0 econometric package program was used to predict causality. RESULTS: According to causality analysis, fertility rate resulted in population aging in Turkey for the period between 1975 and 2016, apart from a one-way causality between population aging and health expenditure in Turkey. CONCLUSION: As aging has multiple social, political, and economic effects, the development and implementation of new policies toward the elderly and aging of population are very important.