New Delhi: A question as simple as “Are you taking your medicine?” could conceivably prolong your life, research shows. A new study offers concrete evidence on the power of exposure to health-related expertise—not only in improving mortality rates and lifelong health outcomes, but also in narrowing the vexing health gap between the rich and poor.
The findings, which appear in a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper, show that people with access to informal health expertise, such as having a doctor or nurse in the family, are 10 percent more likely to live beyond age 80. They also are significantly less likely to have chronic lifestyle-related conditions, such as heart attacks, heart failure, and diabetes.
Younger relatives within the extended family also see gains: They are more likely to have received vaccinations, have fewer hospital admissions, and have a lower prevalence of drug or alcohol addiction. In addition, the closer family medical source—either geographically or within the family tree—the more pronounced the health benefits, according to the findings. The researchers used data from Sweden, which used lotteries in the early 2000s to break ties among equally qualified applicants for admission into medical schools. The researchers then compared the health of the family members of lottery winners against lottery losers—a setup similar to a randomized control trial.
The strong findings of health benefits funnelled from a familial sphere of medical knowledge suggest ramping up access to health expertise in our health care system would benefit everyone, the researchers say. A doctor, for instance, could prescribe statins—a type of drug known to lower the risk of heart attacks—but patients make the decision whether to take it from day to day. “Our work shows that there is a lot of value in trying to improve people’s decisions about their investment in their own health,” says Petra Persson, an assistant professor of economics at Stanford University.
Expertise from a family member who is a medical professional might include frequent nagging to adhere to prescribed medications, get vaccinations, or refrain from smoking during pregnancy. “These behavioural changes are—from a society’s perspective—simple and cheap,” the study states. Having a medical professional in the family led to substantial health effects across the income spectrum, according to the study. And because the effects from the exposure to medical expertise was often even stronger for those at the lower half of the income distribution, the researchers estimated that information-driven behaviours could make a significant difference in getting rid of health disparities. Closer patient-doctor relationships and more consistent, longer-term ties to the same doctor could lead to more reminders of
preventive care.
