Date of Publication
2019
Faculty Mentor
Jan K. Carney
Abstract
Abstract
Objective: To evaluate associations of cardiovascular health status with utilization of healthcare services.
Methods: Our study included 3,786 participants from the Framingham Third Generation Cohort (enrollment: May 2008 – February 2011). LS7 0-14 point summary scores were categorized as “suboptimal” (score of 0-7) and “optimal” (score of 8-14). Participants were stratified into two utilization groups. Those with 0-1 utilizations were compared to those with 2 or more visits ("Super Users”). Logistic regression was used to estimate associations of the two LS7 categories with the odds of "Super User" utilization (models adjusted for age, sex, race, and education).
Results: Compared to those with “suboptimal” LS7 scores, participants with “optimal” LS7 scores had a 40.5% lower odds (95% confidence interval: 28-51%) of being a “Super User” of health care services (p<0.005).
Conclusions: In a younger population, higher LS7 cardiovascular health metric scores were associated with lower utilization of costly health care services.
Public Health Implications: These results may have implications for primary care physicians and other health professionals to help identify patients at risk for over-utilization of higher-cost health care services.
Document Type
Project
Recommended Citation
Cooley, Elizabeth; Williams, Courtney; Olson, Nels; Nwaro, Caroline; Wetchi, Jules; Collier, Joe; and Carney, Jan K. MD, MPH, "Life's Simple 7 and Health Care Utilization among the Framingham Generation III Cohort" (2019). Master of Public Health Culminating Projects. 4.
https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/mphcp/4