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Does Medical Expansion Improve Population Health?

Publication ,  Journal Article
Zheng, H; George, LK
Published in: Journal of health and social behavior
March 2018

Medical expansion has become a prominent dynamic in today's societies as the biomedical model becomes increasingly dominant in the explanation of health, illness, and other human problems and behavior. Medical expansion is multidimensional and represented by expansions in three major components of the healthcare system: increasing medical investment, medical professionalization/specialization, and the relative size of the pharmaceutical industry. Using Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development health data and World Development Indicators 1981 to 2007, we find medical investment and medical professionalization/specialization significantly improve all three measures of life expectancy and decrease mortality rate even after controlling for endogeneity problems. In contrast, an expanded pharmaceutical industry is negatively associated with female life expectancy at age 65 and positively associated with the all-cause mortality rate. It further compromises the beneficial effect of medical professionalization/specialization on population health. In general, medical professionalization/specialization and gross domestic product per capita have similar and stronger effects than medical investment.

Duke Scholars

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Published In

Journal of health and social behavior

DOI

EISSN

2150-6000

ISSN

0022-1465

Publication Date

March 2018

Volume

59

Issue

1

Start / End Page

113 / 132

Related Subject Headings

  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • Public Health
  • Population Health
  • Models, Theoretical
  • Life Expectancy
  • Humans
  • Health Expenditures
  • 5205 Social and personality psychology
  • 4410 Sociology
  • 1701 Psychology
 

Citation

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Zheng, H., & George, L. K. (2018). Does Medical Expansion Improve Population Health? Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 59(1), 113–132. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022146518754534
Zheng, Hui, and Linda K. George. “Does Medical Expansion Improve Population Health?Journal of Health and Social Behavior 59, no. 1 (March 2018): 113–32. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022146518754534.
Zheng H, George LK. Does Medical Expansion Improve Population Health? Journal of health and social behavior. 2018 Mar;59(1):113–32.
Zheng, Hui, and Linda K. George. “Does Medical Expansion Improve Population Health?Journal of Health and Social Behavior, vol. 59, no. 1, Mar. 2018, pp. 113–32. Epmc, doi:10.1177/0022146518754534.
Zheng H, George LK. Does Medical Expansion Improve Population Health? Journal of health and social behavior. 2018 Mar;59(1):113–132.
Journal cover image

Published In

Journal of health and social behavior

DOI

EISSN

2150-6000

ISSN

0022-1465

Publication Date

March 2018

Volume

59

Issue

1

Start / End Page

113 / 132

Related Subject Headings

  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • Public Health
  • Population Health
  • Models, Theoretical
  • Life Expectancy
  • Humans
  • Health Expenditures
  • 5205 Social and personality psychology
  • 4410 Sociology
  • 1701 Psychology