Scientists advise to pay attention to the financial condition of patients
Financial problems and the strain they cause increase the risk of death in older people who have been hospitalized for a heart attack, according to a study by Yale University experts, quoted by the online publication “Juricalart”.
Severe money problems – the lack of sufficient funds to meet their monthly needs, are associated with these people with a 60 percent higher risk of death within six months after discharge from hospital.
“We have found that strong financial tensions are associated with an increased risk of mortality. This is a call to the clinical world that we need to pay attention to the financial situation of patients, “explains the co-author of the study, Dr. Alexandra Hajduk.
For the study, patients aged 75 and over who were hospitalized with a heart attack in hospitals across the United States between 2012 and 2016 were asked about their financial status. It turns out that 7.2 percent of those who say they have enough money to pay their bills die within six months of being discharged from the hospital. Half a year after their stay in the clinic, the outcome was fatal for 9 percent of patients who said they only had “enough” money to make ends meet. Of those who reported having too little money, 16.8 percent died within the same period.
Yale researchers are adjusting the data to take into account factors other than a recent heart attack that may, however, affect the risk of death, such as other medical problems and age-related conditions. The researchers then concluded that patients who reported severe financial stress were 61 percent more likely to die within six months of hospitalization than others.
The results show that talks about the financial situation of elderly people admitted to the hospital with heart attacks could be an indicator of those at higher risk of death after discharge, Hajduk said. In these cases, social workers could intervene and refer older people to departments and organizations for help.
The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
