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. 2024 Dec;67(6):820-831.
doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2024.07.005. Epub 2024 Jul 11.

Health Care Expenditures and Use Associated with Hypertension Among U.S. Adults

Yu Wang  1 , Jun S Lee  2 , Lisa M Pollack  2 , Ashutosh Kumar  3 , Sally Honeycutt  4 , Feijun Luo  5
Affiliations

Health Care Expenditures and Use Associated with Hypertension Among U.S. Adults

Yu Wang et al. Am J Prev Med. 2024 Dec.

Abstract

Introduction: This study seeks to estimate health care expenditures and use associated with hypertension, focusing on differences among racial and ethnic groups.

Methods: Data were from the 2019 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, analyzed in 2023. The study sample included noninstitutionalized U.S. adults aged ≥18 years. Outcome variables were health care expenditures and events. Hypertension was determined by a self-reported diagnosis or diagnosis codes. Race and ethnicity were self-reported. A 2-part model was used to estimate expenditures associated with hypertension. A zero-inflated negative binomial model was used to estimate events associated with hypertension. Sampling designs were applied to generate nationally representative estimates.

Results: Hypertension was associated with $2,759 (95% confidence interval [CI]: $2,039, $3,479) in health care expenditures and 10.3 (95% CI: 9.3, 11.3) health care events, including prescriptions filled, in 2019 per person. Compared with non-Hispanic White adults, hypertension-associated health care expenditures were significantly lower among Hispanic adults (difference: -$1,877; 95% CI: -$3,389, -$364) and Asian adults (difference: -$2,452; 95% CI: -$4,093, -$811), and hypertension-associated health care events were significantly lower among Hispanic adults (difference: -3.8; 95% CI: -6.1, -1.6) and non-Hispanic Asian adults (difference: -4.1; 95% CI: -6.9, -1.2). Differences between non-Hispanic White adults and non-Hispanic Black adults were not statistically significant in health care expenditures (difference: -$954; 95% CI: -$2,849, $941) and events (difference: 0.3; 95% CI: -2.1, 2.8).

Conclusions: This study reveals differences in health care expenditures and use associated with hypertension among racial and ethnic groups. Future studies are needed to examine potential drivers of these differences.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest. No financial disclosures have been reported by the authors of this article.

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