The benefits of risk factor prevention in Americans aged 51 years and older.

Full Abstract

OBJECTIVES: We assessed the potential health and economic benefits of reducing common risk factors in older Americans. METHODS: A dynamic simulation model tracked a national cohort of persons 51 and 52 years of age to project their health and medical spending in prevention scenarios for diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and smoking. RESULTS: The gain in life span from successful treatment of a person aged 51 or 52 years for obesity would be 0.85 years; for hypertension, 2.05 years; and for diabetes, 3.17 years. A 51- or 52-year-old person who quit smoking would gain 3.44 years. Despite living longer, those successfully treated for obesity, hypertension, or diabetes would have lower lifetime medical spending, exclusive of prevention costs. Smoking cessation would lead to increased lifetime spending. We used traditional valuations for a life-year to calculate that successful treatments would be worth, per capita, $198,018 (diabetes), $137,964 (hypertension), $118,946 (smoking), and $51,750 (obesity). CONCLUSIONS: Effective prevention could substantially improve the health of older Americans, and--despite increases in longevity--such benefits could be achieved with little or no additional lifetime medical spending.

Author information

Author/s: Goldman, Dana P (DP); Zheng, Yuhui (Y); Girosi, Federico (F); Michaud, Pierre-Carl (PC); Olshansky, S Jay (SJ); Cutler, David (D); Rowe, John W (JW);

Affiliation: RAND Corporation, 1776 Main St, Santa Monica, CA 90407-2138, USA. dgoldman(-atsign-)rand.org

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: American journal of public health (Am J Public Health), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Nov; vol 99 (issue 11) : pp 2096-101

Dates: Created 2009/10/12; Completed 2009/10/30;

PMID: 19762651, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 10/30/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article
(including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.