Does social isolation affect medical doctor visits? New evidence among European older adults

David Cantarero (), Marta Pascual-Sáez and Carla Blázquez-Fernández

No 1805, Working Papers. Collection B: Regional and sectoral economics from Universidade de Vigo, GEN - Governance and Economics research Network

Abstract: We have used panel data (2004-2015) from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) to examine the impact of social isolation on general practitioner health care use. Socio-demographic, health and social isolation measures are analysed. Differences by welfare regimes have been also considered. Using two definitions of social isolation (Alone and Help), we have found that a sizeable proportion of those aged 50 years and older in Europe reported social isolation. Differences by welfare regimes are highlighted. Our findings provide several implications in current debates on the sustainability of welfare states.

Keywords: Europe; aging; social isolation; health care utilization; SHARE; count data models. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I10 I19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 25 pages
Date: 2018-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-age, nep-eur and nep-hea
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gov:wpregi:1805

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