Cost effectiveness of health insurance

¶ … Health Insurance

Age

Gender

Smocking

Leisure time physical activity

Male

Female

Smoker

Non-smoker

Obesity

Lack of health insurance

Under 18 years

Current smoking

years and over

Regular leisure time physical activity

years and over

Analyze and report on the relationships between each of the health outcome values and the demographic values that can be identified in the table you developed.

The data collected reveals that there exist relationships between the health outcomes and the demographics characterizing each group of individuals. For instance:

The middle aged population reveals the highest levels of obesity

The population between the ages of 18 and 24 reveals the highest levels of lack of health care coverage, but this figure decreases in time

Smoking is more popular among the younger population and tends to decrease as the people age

Physical exercise is more popular among the male groups, but its incidence tends to decrease through time.

2. Describe the relationship between the values in your table (analyze the relationship between the Y values and the X values).

The relationships between the values in the X and Y axes of the table indicate certain aspects. For instance:

The relationship between age and obesity is variable, indicating an increase in obesity towards the middle of the individual's life, and a decrease in obesity towards the end of life

The relationship between genders and obesity seems to also fluctuate, but an observed tendency is that of less obesity among the female category

In terms of the lack of medical insurance, this fluctuates between genders, but an observed trend is that of decreasing coverage for both men and women as they become older

In terms of smoking, it is observed that both genders register a decreased incidence of smoking as they age; unlike the younger and mature stages, women smoke more than men in the age group of 65 and over

Men exercise more, but decrease their activity, whereas women keep it steady. As they age, men are twice more likely to exercise then women.

3. What, if anything, can be determined from the relationships between the values in your table?

As it has been mentioned throughout the previous section, the relationships between the health care outcomes and the demographic values are often fluctuating and relationships cannot be established in stricter terms. Nevertheless, some observations can be made based on the relationships between the values:

Younger people and the senior citizens are less prone to obesity than the more mature population. This could be due to the fact that the middle aged population is facing more stress, pressure and inadequate nutrition, all causes of obesity (Webb and Whitney, 2008)

In each age group, women have a decreased access to medical insurance as compared to their male counterparts. This could be explained by the fact that women are less present within the workplaces, but also by the fact that they continue to be discriminated against and offered fewer benefits (Lorber, 2009).

Women are more responsible and smoke less than men throughout their young and mature life, but they smoke more than men during their later years.

In each age group, women exercise less than men and this could also be due to the sustained discrimination of women, who are still responsible for the household chores and as such have less time for leisure and physical activity (Lorber, 2009).

4. Are the differences between the values in your table significant and explain how they have an impact on the quality of life and/or the probability of a shortened life span?