A study on Cost-Effectiveness of Health Promotion Activities in Rural Communities.
10.2185/jjrm.50.565
- VernacularTitle:農村における健康増進活動の費用・効果分析に関する研究
- Author:
Shosui MATSUSHIMA
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- From:Journal of the Japanese Association of Rural Medicine
2001;50(4):565-579
- CountryJapan
- Language:Japanese
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Abstract:
We have studied the degree to which health screenings and health education activities, including health promotion and improvements in the lifestyle, are contributory to the reduction of outlays for disease prevention and medical care.
An analysis of all municipalities in one prefecture reveals that the larger the number of public health nurses and the rate of undergoing a health checkup, the smaller the expenses required for inpatient and outpatient services. In a comparison between the municipalities where adequate health screenings and health education are provided and those in which no such activities are evolved yet in another prefecture, the outlays necessary for the medical care of seniors are significantly lower in the former.
An analysis of Rezept, or the monthly bills for medical treatment forwarded by hospitals to the associations that take charge of the National Health Insurance Scheme, shows that the coverage of per-capita costs under the scheme for the treatment of people who undergo a health screening on a regular basis is lower than that of those who do not do so, despite the fact that the latter more often undergo treatment at medical institutions after they suffer from some kind of disease or the other. In a comparison of municipalities that differ in terms of the per-capita share in the coverage of the scheme, the lower the medical outlay, the higher the rate of undergoing a health screening, that of receiving treatment at local hospitals and that of deaths at home.
An analysis of persons who have regularly undergone a health checkup over a period of five years indicates that the improvements made in the everyday lifestyle, and in dietary practices, exercises and calisthenics are more significant than is the case with people who have not undergone it. In stomach cancer screenings (mass X-ray stomach screenings or endoscopy), the rate of deaths from cancer and the outlay for inpatient services are lower than those of people who have not undergone a health-checkup. When outlays for health screenings, those for inpatient services and a deathderived losses in the benefit are all taken into account, it follows that the benefit is higher for people who have undergone a health screening on a regular basis.
