Effects of Population Aging on Personal Health Consumption of the Early Elderly and Late Elderly in China

Abstract

In this study, using the data of the 2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. In order to understand the effect of the health level of the elderly in China on personal health consumption, the Tobit model was analyzed, 7478 elderly subjects were included. The results are as follows. First, there was a difference in health level between the early Chinese elderly and the late elderly, and the difference in physical health level was larger. Second, the education level of Chinese elderly people had a positive effect on health consumption. Third, early elderly with suicidal thoughts showed low health care consumption, and suicidal thoughts did not affect personal health consumption among later elderly people. Personal health consumption was found to be high in both the early and late elderly with poor subjective health status, and the medical consumption of the early elderly were higher than those of the later elderly. At last, patients with chronic diseases in the late-elderly group had higher health consumption than those in the early elderly group. Medical consumption for early elderly in need of care were higher. However, regular exercise did not affect the personal health consumption of the elderly. Therefore, it is necessary to recognize the difference in the health level of the elderly by age group. Also, the government and community need to pay attention to the mental health problems of the elderly and improve their cognitive abilities. The government and companies should also pay attention to the development of the elderly