National Medical Care Utilization and Expenditure Survey (NMCUES) Series B, Descriptive Report No. 11. Education and Use of Health Services among Elderly Medicare Beneficiaries

摘要

The 1980 National Medical Care Utilization and Expenditure Survey (NMCUES) collected data on the use of and expenditures for health care services from a randomly selected household sample panel representative of the civilian noninstitutionalized population. The panel consisted of 6,600 households (17,900 persons). Data collection was conducted from February 1980 through April 1981 and consisted of 5 rounds of interviewing. In addition to the use and expenditures for health care services, data were collected on sample persons' demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, health status, employment, and health insurance coverage. The report is based on data for sample persons who were Medicare enrollees and 65 years of age or older. The data showed no overall association between education and the number of hospital discharges in 1980. However, it was found that high school graduates were less likely to be hospitalized than persons who completed only the 8th grade. There was no overall association between education and the number of ambulatory medical care visits. The number of dental visits has a significant association with level of education. The proportion of persons making dental visits and the number of visits increase with increased levels of education.