Why has medicine expanded? The role of consumers |
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| Institution: | 1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Central South University, South Lushan Road, Changsha 410083, China;2. Department of Chemistry, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, United Kingdom;3. Faculty of Science, Kunming University of Science and Technology, South Jingming Road, Kunming 650500, China;4. Faculty of Environment Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, South Jingming Road, Kunming 650500, China;1. New York University, United States;2. University of California, Berkeley, United States;3. University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, United States;1. School of Business Management, UUM College of Business, Kedah, Malaysia;2. School of Health Sciences, Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia;3. Department of Otorhinology, Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia;4. I-HEARS – Institute of Ear, Hearing & Speech, Universiti Kebangsaan, Malaysia |
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| Abstract: | In the past 50 years, the field of medicine has expanded dramatically in many Western societies. Despite substantial improvements in objective health measures, there has not been a commensurate increase in assessments of subjective health. We hypothesize that medical expansion may lower people’s subjective health perceptions, leading to an increase in health care utilization, and, in turn, fueling further medical expansion. We use OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) Health Data, World Development Indicators, the World Values Survey, and the European Values Study to fit a difference-in-differences model that removes unobserved cross-national heterogeneity and any period trend that is shared across nations. We find that three dimensions of medical expansion at the societal level (medical investment, medical professionalization/specialization, and an expanded pharmaceutical industry) negatively affect individual subjective health. These findings are robust to different model specifications. We conclude by discussing possible explanations for the adverse effect of medical expansion on subjective health, and how this effect may be related to other mechanisms through which medicine expands. |
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| Keywords: | Medical expansion Consumers Self-rated health |
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