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Is There an Age Pattern in the Treatment of AMI? Evidence from Ontario*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2010

Michel Grignon*
Affiliation:
McMaster University
Byron G. Spencer
Affiliation:
McMaster University
Li Wang
Affiliation:
McMaster University
*
Correspondence and requests for offprints should be sent to / La correspondance et les demandes de tirés-à-part doivent être adressées à: Michel Grignon, Ph.D., McMaster University, Department of Economics, KTH-426, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4M4 ([email protected])

Abstract

In this article we analyse the rates at which those admitted to hospital with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) receive aggressive treatment, assess how those rates have changed over time, and ask whether there is evidence of age discrepancies. Estimates made on the basis of data from an administrative database that includes discharges from all acute care hospitals in Ontario for selected years, from 1995 to 2005, indicate that there are strong and persistent age patterns in the application of medical technology. Results showed that to be true even after controlling for the higher rates of co-morbidities among older patients and variations across hospitals in practice patterns.

Résumé

Dans cet article nous analysons la probabilité pour un patient hospitalisé pour infarctus du myocarde de recevoir des traitements chirurgicaux, puis nous mesurons les changements dans le temps de cette probabilité et cherchons à savoir si l’âge du patient joue sur la probabilité. Nos estimations, fondées sur des données administratives incluant tous les séjours dans les hôpitaux de soins aigus de l’Ontario pour certaines années entre 1995 et 2005, font état d’un profil par âge marqué et stable dans le temps dans la diffusion de la technologie médicale. Nos résultats montrent que ceci est robuste à l’inclusion de contrôles pour la plus forte fréquence de co-morbidités chez les patients âgés ainsi que pour les effets de pratiques propres aux hôpitaux.

Type
Special SEDAP Section: Canada’s Vulnerable Older Populations / Section spéciale SEDAP: Les Populations âgées vulnérables du Canada: Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2010

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Footnotes

*

This article presents some results of research carried out under “The McMaster Pilot”, an agreement worked out between the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, Statistics Canada, and the Statistics Canada Research Data Centre at McMaster University. We are grateful to the Ministry for making selected administrative data files available for this pilot and for its financial support and also to CHEPA (The Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis) and SEDAP (Social and Economic Dimensions of an Aging Population) for their support. The authors alone are responsible for the views expressed here.

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