Determinants of health care costs in the senior elderly: age, comorbidity, impairment, or proximity to death?

Ageing is assumed to be accompanied by greater health care expenditures but the association is also viewed as a ‘red herring’. This study aimed to evaluate whether age is associated with health care costs in the senior elderly, using electronic health records for 98,220 participants aged 80 years and over registered with the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink and linked Hospital Episode Statistics (2010–2014). Annual costs of health care utilization were estimated from a two-part model; multiple fractional polynomial models were employed to evaluate the non-linear association of age with predicted health care costs while also controlling for comorbidities, impairments, and death proximity. Annual health care costs increased from 80 years (£2972 in men, £2603 in women) to 97 (men; £4721) or 98 years (women; £3963), before declining. Costs were significantly elevated in the last year of life but this effect declined with age, from £10,027 in younger octogenarians to £7021 in centenarians. This decline was steeper in participants with comorbidities or impairments; £14,500 for 80–84-year-olds and £6752 for centenarians with 7+ impairments. At other times, comorbidity and impairments, not age, were main drivers of costs. We conclude that comorbidities, impairments, and proximity to death are key mediators of age-related increases in health care costs. While the costs of comorbidity among survivors are not generally associated with age, additional costs in the last year of life decline with age

Evolution of the "fourth stage" of epidemiologic transition in people aged 80 years and over:population-based cohort study using electronic health records

Abstract Background In the “fourth stage” of epidemiological transition, the distribution of non-communicable diseases is expected to shift to more advanced ages, but age-specific changes beyond 80 years of age have not been reported. Methods This study aimed to evaluate demographic and health transitions in a population aged 80 years and over in the United Kingdom from 1990 to 2014, using primary care electronic health records. Epidemiological analysis of chronic morbidities and age-related impairments included a cohort of 299,495 participants, with stratified sampling by five-year age group up to 100 years and over. Cause-specific proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios for incidence rates over time. Results Between 1990 and 2014, nonagenarians and centenarians increased as a proportion of the over-80 population, as did the male-to-female ratio among individuals aged 80 to 95 years. A lower risk of coronary heart disease (HR 0.54, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.50–0.58), stroke (0.83, 0.76–0.90) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (0.59, 0.54–0.64) was observed among 80–84 year-olds in 2010–2014 compared to 1995–1999. By contrast, the risk of type II diabetes (2.18, 1.96–2.42), cancer (1.52, 1.43–1.61), dementia (2.94, 2.70–3.21), cognitive impairment (5.57, 5.01–6.20), and musculoskeletal pain (1.26, 1.21–1.32) was greater in 2010–2014 compared to 1995–1999. Conclusions Redistribution of the over-80 population to older ages, and declining age-specific incidence of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases in over-80s, are consistent with the “fourth stage” of epidemiologic transition, but increases in diabetes, cancer, and age-related impairment show new emerging epidemiological patterns in the senior elderly

'Fair innings' in the face of ageing and demographic change

AbstractThere are now 125 million people aged 80 years and over worldwide, projected by the United Nations to grow threefold by 2050. While increases in life expectancy and rapid increases in the older-age population are considered positive developments, the consequential future health care burden represents a leading concern for health services. We revisit Williams’ ‘fair innings’ argument from 1997, in light of technological and demographic changes, and challenge the notion that greater longevity may impose an unfair burden on younger generations. We discuss perspectives on the equity-efficiency trade-off in terms of their implications for the growing over-80 population, as well as society in general. This includes questioning the comparison of treatment cost-effectiveness in younger vs. older populations when using quality-adjusted life years and the transience of life expectancies over generations. While recognising that there will never be a clear consensus regarding societal value judgements, we present empirical evidence on the very elderly that lends support to a stronger anti-ageist stance given current increases in longevity.</jats:p

Longitudinal Trends in Hypertension Management and Mortality Among Octogenarians:Prospective Cohort Study

The role of hypertension management among octogenarians is controversial. In this long-term follow-up (>10 years) study, we estimated trends in hypertension prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control among octogenarians, and evaluated the relationship of systolic blood pressure (SBP) ranges with mortality. Data were based on the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA). Outcome measures were hypertension prevalence, awareness, treatment and control, and cardiovascular disease, and all-cause mortality events. Participants were separated into 8 categories of SBP values (<110, 110–119, 120–129, 130–139, 140–149, 150–159, 160–169, and >169 mm Hg). Among 2692 octogenarians, mean SBP levels declined from 147 mm Hg in 1998/2000 to 134 mm Hg in 2012/2013. The decline was of lower magnitude in the 50 to 79 years old subgroup (n=22007). Hypertension prevalence and awareness were 40% and 13%, respectively, higher among octogenarians than the 50 to 79 years of age subgroup, but hypertension treatment rates were similar (≈90%). Around 47% of the treated octogenarians achieved conventional BP targets (<140/90 mm Hg), increasing to 59% when assessed against revised targets (<150/90 mm Hg). All-cause mortality rates were higher (hazard ratio, 1.55; 95% confidence interval, 0.89–2.72) at lower extremes of SBP values (<110 mm Hg). The lowest cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality risk among treated octogenarians was observed for an SBP range of 140 to 149 mm Hg (1.04, 0.60–1.78) and 160 to 169 mm Hg (0.78, 0.51–1.21). An increasing trend in hypertension awareness and treatment was observed in a large sample of community-dwelling octogenarians. The results do not support the view that more stringent BP targets may be associated with lower mortality