Health Shocks and Initiation of Use of Preventive Services Among Older Adults

Abstract

This article examines whether adverse changes to health or functioning serve as an impetus to begin using preventive services among older individuals with a history of non-use. Using data from the 1998-2008 Health and Retirement Study, the use of mammograms, pap smears, prostate cancer screenings, cholesterol checks, and flu shots is examined among 2,975 self-reported non-users of such services. Older women who experience a health shock are 1.86, 1.50, 1.79, and 1.46 times more likely to begin getting mammograms, pap smears, cholesterol checks, and flu shots, respectively. Older men who experience a health shock are 2.24, 2.72, and 1.64 times more likely to begin getting prostate cancer screenings, cholesterol checks, and flu shots, respectively. All of these results are statistically significant. Thus, older adults often improve their health behaviors after experiencing an adverse health event.

Health shocks and changes in preventive behaviors: Results from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study

“…It is a valuable opportunity for providers to advise and assist patients to optimize their preventive behaviors ( 24 , 38 , 39 ). Also, social networks like family members, friends, or even colleagues support and supervise people with health-shocks to start preventive behaviors ( 18 , 23 , 27 , 37 ).…”

“…Furthermore, two categories of variables were divided to capture the heterogeneity. These classifications for major vs. minor shocks were adopted from literature ( 6 , 27 ). Major HS included cancer, stroke, and heart disease, which are generally serious or even fatal diseases.…”

“…For preventive care utilization, little research recognized that compared to non-health-shock people, health-shock people utilize more preventive care services. Health shocks motivated people to participate in cholesterol tests and prompted women to take mammograms and men to take pap smears ( 27 ). Although following very serious health shocks, one-third of patients might temporarily suspend cancer screenings, the rates of screenings returned to normal within a year ( 28 ).…”

The effects of health shocks on family status: do financial incentives encourage marriage?

“…If anything, existing empirical studies suggest a possible overestimation of subjective residual life expectancy after health shocks, which could limit the significance of our results in the sense of a downward bias, cf. [ 39 , 43 ]. Our strategy to address the problem involves two points in particular.…”

Impact of an RN-led Medicare Annual Wellness Visit on Preventive Services in a Family Medicine Practice

“…A 2004 survey of primary care experiences among adults in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States found that at least half of adults in each country said their doctors did not provide reminders, recommendations, or general information on preventive care (Schoen et al, 2004). Unfortunately, many patients are not aware of or do not act on preventive care until they have a health shock, defined as an exogenous or sudden event, caused by an accident or disease, that affects the well-being of an individual (eg, a hospitalization) (Ng & Jensen, 2018).…”