Multiple cohorts analysis of the Medicare Health Outcomes Survey, 1998-2002

National surveys such as the Medicare Health Outcomes Survey (HOS) provide an opportunity to examine changes in the physical and mental health of Medicare beneficiaries over time. The current study is based on results from the HOS. For the survey results on which this study is based, the HOS include...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Health care financing review 2005-03, Vol.26 (3), p.125-128
Main Authors: Grace, Susan C, Shannon, Erin Dowd, Drachman, David, Ellis, Beth Hartman
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Beneficiaries
Cohort Studies
Demographic aspects
Health administration
Health aspects
Health services
Health Surveys
Humans
Medicare
Membership
Mental health
Mental health surveys
Older people
Outcome Assessment (Health Care)
Physical fitness
Polls & surveys
Studies
Surveys
United States
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Summary:National surveys such as the Medicare Health Outcomes Survey (HOS) provide an opportunity to examine changes in the physical and mental health of Medicare beneficiaries over time. The current study is based on results from the HOS. For the survey results on which this study is based, the HOS includes the RAND 36-Item Health Survey (RAND SF-36), which yields two distinct higher order measures of health status: the physical component summary (PCS) score and the mental component summary (MCS) score. A beneficiary is eligible for remeasurement if a PCS and MCS score can be calculated from the baseline survey. This study demonstrates that health declines remain constant over longer intervals for this elderly population. Therefore, the current HOS administrative procedure of following up on respondents after a 2-year interval appears to be sufficient for accurately documenting rates of health decline. Intervals longer than 2 years would likely result in more beneficiaries lost through attrition and therefore smaller sample sizes.
ISSN:0195-8631
1554-9887