4.4 Article

Transit use and health care costs: A cross-sectional analysis

Journal

JOURNAL OF TRANSPORT & HEALTH
Volume 24, Issue -, Pages -

Publisher

ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.jth.2021.101294

Keywords

Transit; Health care costs; Public transportation; Medical expenditures

Funding

  1. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health [R01 DK103385]
  2. PI-Fortmann

Ask authors/readers for more resources

The study found that individuals who use public transit more frequently have lower healthcare costs, especially in total costs and medication costs. Similar results were seen for individuals with low transit use. However, there was no significant difference in outpatient costs among different transit users.
Introduction: Greater transit use is associated with higher levels of physical activity, which is associated with lower health risks and better health outcomes. However, there is scant evidence about whether health care costs differ based on level of transit ridership. Methods: A sample (n = 947) of members of Kaiser Permanente in the Portland, Oregon area were surveyed in 2015 about their typical use of various modes of travel including transit. Electronic medical record-derived health care costs were obtained among these members for the prior three years. Analysis examined proportional costs between High transit users (3+ days/week), Low transit users (1-2 days/week), and Non-users adjusting for age and sex, and then individually (base models) and together for demographic and health status variables. Results: In separate base models across individual covariates, High transit users had lower total health care costs (59-69% of Non-user's costs) and medication costs (31-37% of Non-users' costs) than Non-users. Low transit users also had lower total health care (69%-76% of Non-users' costs) and medication costs (43-57% transit of Non-user's costs) than Non-users. High transit users' outpatient costs were also lower (77-82% of Non-users). In fully-adjusted models, total health care and medication costs were lower among High transit users' (67% and 39%) and Low transit users' (75% and 48%) compared to Non-users, but outpatient costs did not differ by transit use. Conclusions: Findings have implications for the potential cost benefit of encouraging and supporting more transit use, although controlled longitudinal and experimental evidence is needed to confirm findings and understand mechanisms.

Authors

I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.

Reviews

Primary Rating

4.4
Not enough ratings

Secondary Ratings

Novelty
-
Significance
-
Scientific rigor
-
Rate this paper

Recommended

No Data Available
No Data Available