Differences in Access to Health Care Services Between Insured and Uninsured Adults With Diabetes in Mexico
- José A. Pagán, PHD123 and
- Andrea Puig2
- 1Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholars Program, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- 2Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- 3Department of Economics and Finance, University of Texas-Pan American, Edinburg, Texas
- Address correspondence and reprint requests to José A. Pagán, PhD, University of Pennsylvania, Robert Wood Johnson Health and Scholars Program, Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, 3641 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104. E-mail: pagan{at}wharton.upenn.edu
The prevalence of diabetes in Mexico has steadily increased in recent years, and this chronic condition is now the leading cause of death for those between ages 55 and 64 years (1,2). Health insurance coverage has been linked to improvements in the management of chronic health conditions because it increases access to health care services (3). The purpose of this study was to analyze the association between health insurance coverage and the use of conventional health care services, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), and self-medication in a national sample of Mexican older adults with diabetes.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
The Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS) (n = 15,156) is a nationally representative prospective panel study of adults born before 1951. The 2001 baseline data were collected from June 2001 to September 2001, and MHAS includes comprehensive information on health, health care utilization, and socioeconomic status (4). Of the sample of 2,131 individuals who reported having diabetes, we excluded 230 due to missing responses. Our final sample included 1,901 diabetic adults aged 50 years and older. There were no substantial differences in demographic characteristics between survey participants with missing and nonmissing responses.
We used logistic regression to analyze how health insurance status was related to the use of conventional health …
