OBJECTIVE The purpose of this article was to determine the effects of a managed-Medicare physical activity benefit on health care utilization and costs among older adults with diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS This retrospective cohort study used administrative and claims data for 527 patients from a diabetes registry of a staff model HMO. Participants (n = 163) were enrolled in the HMO f...

CONTEXT Clinically relevant late-life depression has a prevalence of 16% and is associated with substantial societal costs through its disease burden and unfavorable prognosis. From the public health perspective, depression prevention may be an attractive, if not imperative, means to generate health gains and reduce future costs. OBJECTIVE To target high-risk groups for depression prevention ...

CONTACT Depression is common in adolescent offspring of depressed parents and can be prevented, but adoption of prevention programs is dependent on the balance of their incremental costs and benefits. OBJECTIVE To examine the incremental cost-effectiveness of a group cognitive behavioral intervention to prevent depression in adolescent offspring of depressed parents. DESIGN Cost-effectivene...

BACKGROUND Fractures associated with bone fragility in older adults signal the potential for secondary fracture. Fragility fractures often precipitate further decline in health and loss of mobility, with high associated costs for patients, families, society and the healthcare system. Promptly initiating a coordinated, comprehensive pharmacological bone health and falls prevention program post-f...

Data from youth studied by Zagar and colleagues were randomly sampled to create groups of controls and abused, delinquent, violent, and homicidal youth (n=30 in each). Estimated costs of raising a nondelinquent youth from birth to 17 yr. were compared with the average costs incurred by other youth in each group. Estimates of living expenses, direct and indirect costs of victimization, and crimi...

Tanzania is facing a double burden of disease, with non-communicable diseases being an increasingly important contributor. Evidence-based preventive measures are important to limit the growing financial burden. This article aims to estimate the cost of providing medical primary prevention interventions for cardiovascular disease (CVD) among at-risk patients, reflecting actual resource use and i...

C hronic diseases impose an enormous financial and societal burden on the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), chronic diseases today account for 70% of the deaths of all Americans and 75% of this country's annual health care costs. Unless we take steps now to deal effectively with chronic diseases, our nation is headed for a serious financial and qu...

BACKGROUND Preterm birth is a rising health problem in Europe generally, and in Austria specifically. Decision makers require objective information on the effects and costs of measures to prevent preterm birth. METHODS We undertook a budget impact analysis from a public payer perspective and for a 1-year and 5-year time horizon for five prevention approaches to reduce preterm birth. These wer...

Traditional full-time employment has evolved into various types of occupational situations, and, nowadays, new work organization strategies have been developed. Previously overlooked risk factors have emerged, such as traffic accidents while commuting or during work hours, poor work organization, and detrimental lifestyles (like alcohol and substance abuse, although recent statistics seem to sh...

BACKGROUND Parents are integral to the implementation of obesity prevention and management recommendations for children. Exploration of barriers to and facilitators of parental decisions to adopt obesity prevention recommendations will inform future efforts to reduce childhood obesity. METHODS We conducted 4 focus groups (2 English, 2 Spanish) among a total of 19 parents of overweight (BMI >o...