Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 6, 2026
Assessment of Dependence in Activities of Daily Living Among Older Patients in an Acute Care Unit
Published on: September 30, 2020
[Health expenditure related to disability. A study with poor population in Mexico]
José E Urquieta-Salomón1, José L Figueroa, Bernardo Hernández-Prado
1Centro de Investigación en Salud Poblacional, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Cuernavaca, Morelos, México. jurquieta@insp.mx
Objective:
To estimate the effect of disability and incapacity in health expenditure in poor households in Mexico.
Material And Methods:
This is an analysis of baseline survey of the Oportunidades evaluation. Households with siblings with structural disability or incapacity were identified, and health expenditure was estimated.
Results:
In 15314 households analyzed, 10.1% had a sibling with structural disability, and 13.4% with mild or severe incapacity. The presence of structural disability was not associated with a higher expenditure in health care. The presence of mild or severe incapacity was associated with 97% higher expenditure in ambulatory care compared with households without incapacity. The poor households have higher health related expenditures.
Conclusions:
These results indicate that the incapacity to develop day to day activities has a significant impact on the out of pocket health expenditure. This impact is higher in poor households.
