Health Expenditures And Life Expectancy Around The World: A Quantile Regression Approach

Previous literature has produced mixed results on the effects of country health expenditures on longevity. More importantly, all previous studies have evaluated the expenditure effects on the mean of the life expectancy distribution, ignoring the possibility that the expenditure returns may not be the same for countries that differ in their life expectancies. In this paper, we evaluate the heterogeneity in country health expenditure effects throughout the life expectancy distribution applying quantile regression to an assembled dataset of 177 countries. We find significant heterogeneities in expenditures effects on life expectancy that are completely masked by ordinary least squares (OLS), which underestimates (overestimates) the expenditure returns for countries ranking at low (high) life-expectancy quantiles. The largest returns from increased spending are for countries at the left margin of the life expectancy distribution (mainly at quantiles 0.25 and lower), for which a $100 increase in per capita spending leads to 11.5 and 11 months of life for males and females, respectively. The results suggest that increasing healthcare spending in these countries may have significant population-wide life expectancy returns.Health Expenditures, Life Expectancy, Quantile Regression

Psychiatric Diagnoses in Individuals with Non-Syndromic Oral Clefts:A Danish Population-Based Cohort Study

The aim of this study was to investigate the risk of psychiatric diagnoses in individuals with non-syndromic oral clefts (OC) compared with individuals without OC, including ages from 1 to 76 years.Linking four Danish nationwide registers, we investigated the risk of psychiatric diagnoses at Danish psychiatric hospitals during the period 1969-2012 for individuals born with non-syndromic OC in Denmark 1936-2009 compared with a cohort of 10 individuals without OC per individual with OC, matched by sex and birth year. The sample included 8,568 individuals with OC, observed for 247,821 person-years, and 85,653 individuals without OC followed for 2,501,129 person-years.A total of 953 (11.1%) of the individuals with OC (9.6% for cleft lip (CL), 10.8% for cleft lip and palate (CLP) and 13.1% for cleft palate (CP)) and 8,117 (9.5%) in the comparison group had at least one psychiatric diagnosis. Cox proportional hazard regression model revealed that individuals with OC had significantly higher risk of a psychiatric diagnosis (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.19, 95% CI: 1.12-1.28). When examining cleft type, no difference was found for CL (HR = 1.03, 95% CI: 0.90-1.17), but CLP was associated with a small increased risk (HR = 1.13, 95% CI: 1.01-1.26), whereas individuals with CP had the largest increased risk (HR = 1.45, 95% CI: 1.30-1.62). The largest differences were found in schizophrenia-like disorders, mental retardation and pervasive developmental disorders, but we found no increased risk of mood disorders and anxiety-related disorders.Individuals with non-syndromic OC had significantly higher risk of psychiatric diagnoses compared with individuals without OC. However, the elevated risk was observed for individuals with CLP and CP but not for individuals with CL and the absolute risk increase was modest

The effects of oral clefts on hospital use throughout the lifespan

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Oral clefts are one of the most common birth defects worldwide. They require multiple healthcare interventions and add significant burden on the health and quality of life of affected individuals. However, not much is known about the long term effects of oral clefts on health and healthcare use of affected individuals. In this study, we evaluate the effects of oral clefts on hospital use throughout the lifespan.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We estimate two-part regression models for hospital admission and length of stay for several age groups up to 68 years of age. The study employs unique secondary population-based data from several administrative inpatient, civil registration, demographic and labor market databases for 7,670 individuals born with oral clefts between 1936 and 2002 in Denmark, and 220,113 individuals without oral clefts from a 5% random sample of the total birth population from 1936 to 2002.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Oral clefts significantly increase hospital use for most ages below 60 years by up to 233% for children ages 0-10 years and 16% for middle age adults. The more severe cleft forms (cleft lip with palate) have significantly larger effects on hospitalizations than less severe forms.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results suggest that individuals with oral clefts have higher hospitalization risks than the general population throughout most of the lifespan.</p

Prenatal care effectiveness and utilization in Brazil

The impact of prenatal care use on birth outcomes has been understudied in South American countries. This study assessed the effects of various measures of prenatal care use on birth weight (BW) and gestational age outcomes using samples of infants born without and with common birth defects from Brazil, and evaluated the demand for prenatal care. Prenatal visits improved BW in the group without birth defects through increasing both fetal growth rate and gestational age, but prenatal care visits had an insignificant effect on BW in the group with birth defects when adjusting for gestational age. Prenatal care delay had no effects on BW in both infant groups but increased preterm birth risk in the group without birth defects. Inadequate care versus intermediate care also increased LBW risk in the group without birth effects. Quantile regression analyses revealed that prenatal care visits had larger effects at low compared with high BW quantiles. Several other prenatal factors and covariates such as multivitamin use and number of previous live births had significant effects on the studied outcomes. The number of prenatal care visits was significantly affected by several maternal health and fertility indicators. Significant geographic differences in utilization were observed as well. The study suggests that more frequent use of prenatal care can increase BW significantly in Brazil, especially among pregnancies that are uncomplicated with birth defects but that are at high risk for low birth weight. Further research is needed to understand the effects of prenatal care use for pregnancies that are complicated with birth defects.Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celula

Quantile effects of prenatal care utilization on birth weight in Argentina

The effects of prenatal care utilization on birth weight (BW) may vary by unobserved fetal health endowments. This heterogeneity will be masked by estimating the effects at BW mean but can be evaluated by estimating the effects at BW quantiles as fetal health endowment is a strong correlate with the BW quantile order. We estimated the effects of prenatal care visits and delay before prenatal care initiation, on BW mean and quantiles using a sample of infants from Argentina. Self-selection into prenatal care was modeled using 2SLS and instrumental variable quantile regression. Results suggest that the 'mean' effect of prenatal care utilization largely underestimates the effects at lower BW quantiles. About 35 and 77 g increase in BW mean and 0.1 quantile respectively, per visit and about 30 and 139 g decrease in BW mean and 0.1 quantile respectively, per week delayed, were estimated. Ignoring self-selection into prenatal care resulted in underestimation of mean and quantile effects. Results highlight the limitation of analyses focused on 'mean effects' in the presence of treatment heterogeneity and emphasize the importance of identifying women at risk for having infants at lower BW quantiles as they may benefit most from earlier and more intensive prenatal care.Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celula

Developmental Disabilities and Socioeconomic Outcomes in Young Adulthood

We assessed the associations between developmental disabilities and indicators of socioeconomic outcomes (i.e., educational attainment, employment status, occupation type, subjective perception of socioeconomic status [SES], income, and wage rate) among young U.S. adults aged 24–33 years

The effect of systematic pediatric care on neonatal mortality and hospitalizations of infants born with oral clefts

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P) increase mortality and morbidity risks for affected infants especially in less developed countries. This study aimed at assessing the effects of systematic pediatric care on neonatal mortality and hospitalizations of infants with cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P) in South America.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The intervention group included live-born infants with isolated or associated CL/P in 47 hospitals between 2003 and 2005. The control group included live-born infants with CL/P between 2001 and 2002 in the same hospitals. The intervention group received systematic pediatric care between the 7^thand 28^thday of life. The primary outcomes were mortality between the 7^thand 28^thday of life and hospitalization days in this period among survivors adjusted for relevant baseline covariates.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There were no significant mortality differences between the intervention and control groups. However, surviving infants with associated CL/P in the intervention group had fewer hospitalization days by about six days compared to the associated control group.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Early systematic pediatric care may significantly reduce neonatal hospitalizations of infants with CL/P and additional birth defects in South America. Given the large healthcare and financial burden of CL/P on affected families and the relatively low cost of systematic pediatric care, improving access to such care may be a cost-effective public policy intervention.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>ClinicalTrials.gov: <a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00097149">NCT00097149</a></p

Prenatal care effectiveness and utilization in Brazil

The impact of prenatal care use on birth outcomes has been understudied in South American countries. This study assessed the effects of various measures of prenatal care use on birth weight (BW) and gestational age outcomes using samples of infants born without and with common birth defects from Brazil, and evaluated the demand for prenatal care. Prenatal visits improved BW in the group without birth defects through increasing both fetal growth rate and gestational age, but prenatal care visits had an insignificant effect on BW in the group with birth defects when adjusting for gestational age. Prenatal care delay had no effects on BW in both infant groups but increased preterm birth risk in the group without birth defects. Inadequate care versus intermediate care also increased LBW risk in the group without birth effects. Quantile regression analyses revealed that prenatal care visits had larger effects at low compared with high BW quantiles. Several other prenatal factors and covariates such as multivitamin use and number of previous live births had significant effects on the studied outcomes. The number of prenatal care visits was significantly affected by several maternal health and fertility indicators. Significant geographic differences in utilization were observed as well. The study suggests that more frequent use of prenatal care can increase BW significantly in Brazil, especially among pregnancies that are uncomplicated with birth defects but that are at high risk for low birth weight. Further research is needed to understand the effects of prenatal care use for pregnancies that are complicated with birth defects.Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celula

Description of the methodology used in an ongoing pediatric care interventional study of children born with cleft lip and palate in South America [NCT00097149]

Background: The contribution of birth defects, including cleft lip and palate, to neonatal and infant mortality and morbidity is substantial. As other mortality and morbidity causes including infections, hygiene, prematurity, and nutrition are eradicated in less developed countries, the burden of birth defects will increase proportionally. Methods/Design: We are using cleft lip and palate as a sentinel birth defect to evaluate its burden on neonatal and infant health and to assess the effectiveness of systematic pediatric care during the first month and first two years of life in decreasing this burden. The neonatal intervention, consisting of weekly pediatric evaluation and referral to appropriate care, is delivered to about 696 infants born with cleft lip and/or palate in 47 hospitals in South America. Neonatal mortality in this group will be compared to that in a retrospective control group of about 464 infants born with cleft lip and/or palate in the same hospitals. The subgroup of infants with isolated clefts of both the lip and palate (about 264) is also randomized into two groups, intervened and non-intervened, and further followed up over 2 years. Intervened cases are evaluated by pediatricians every three months and referred for appropriate care. The intervened and non-intervened cases will be compared over study outcomes to evaluate the intervention effectiveness. Non-intervened cases are matched and compared to healthy controls to assess the burden of cleft lip and palate. Outcomes include child's neurological and physical development and family social and economic conditions. Discussion: Large-scale clinical trials to improve infant health in developing countries are commonly suggested, making it important to share the methods used in ongoing studies with other investigators implementing similar research. We describe here the content of our ongoing pediatric care study in South America. We hope that this may help researchers targeting this area to plan their studies more effectively and encourage the development of similar research efforts to target other birth defects or infant outcomes such as prematurity and low birth weight.Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celula

Oral cleft prevention programa (OCPP)

Background: Oral clefts are one of the most common birth defects with significant medical, psychosocial, and economic ramifications. Oral clefts have a complex etiology with genetic and environmental risk factors. There are suggestive results for decreased risks of cleft occurrence and recurrence with folic acid supplements taken at preconception and during pregnancy with a stronger evidence for higher than lower doses in preventing recurrence. Yet previous studies have suffered from considerable design limitations particularly non-randomization into treatment. There is also well-documented effectiveness for folic acid in preventing neural tube defect occurrence at 0.4 mg and recurrence with 4 mg. Given the substantial burden of clefting on the individual and the family and the supportive data for the effectiveness of folic acid supplementation as well as its low cost, a randomized clinical trial of the effectiveness of high versus low dose folic acid for prevention of cleft recurrence is warranted. Methods/design: This study will assess the effect of 4 mg and 0.4 mg doses of folic acid, taken on a daily basis during preconception and up to 3 months of pregnancy by women who are at risk of having a child with nonsyndromic cleft lip with/without palate (NSCL/P), on the recurrence of NSCL/P. The total sample will include about 6,000 women (that either have NSCL/P or that have at least one child with NSCL/P) randomly assigned to the 4 mg and the 0.4 mg folic acid study groups. The study will also compare the recurrence rates of NSCL/P in the total sample of subjects, as well as the two study groups (4mg, 0.4 mg) to that of a historical control group. The study has been approved by IRBs (ethics committees) of all involved sites. Results will be disseminated through publications and presentations at scientific meetings. Discussion: The costs related to oral clefts are high, including long term psychological and socio-economic effects. This study provides an opportunity for huge savings in not only money but the overall quality of life. This may help establish more specific clinical guidelines for oral cleft prevention so that the intervention can be better tailored for at-risk women