Are investments in disease prevention complements? The case of statins and health behaviors.

Pubmed ID: 24814322

Pubmed Central ID: PMC4063305

Journal: Journal of health economics

Publication Date: July 1, 2014

Affiliation: University of Southern California and NBER, United States. Electronic address: dlakdawa@sppd.usc.edu.

MeSH Terms: Humans, Male, Adult, Female, Aged, Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors, Middle Aged, Longitudinal Studies, Body Mass Index, Coronary Disease, Diet, Socioeconomic Factors, Mortality, Health Behavior, Cholesterol, Interviews as Topic, Age Distribution, Primary Prevention, Exercise, Hyperlipidemias

Grants: P01 AG033559, P30 AG043073

Authors: Kaestner R, Darden M, Lakdawalla D

Cite As: Kaestner R, Darden M, Lakdawalla D. Are investments in disease prevention complements? The case of statins and health behaviors. J Health Econ 2014 Jul;36:151-63. Epub 2014 Apr 16.

Studies:

Abstract

We obtain estimates of associations between statin use and health behaviors. Statin use is associated with a small increase in BMI and moderate (20-33%) increases in the probability of being obese. Statin use was also associated with a significant (e.g., 15% of mean) increase in moderate alcohol use among men. There was no consistent evidence of a decrease in smoking associated with statin use, and exercise worsened somewhat for females. Statin use was associated with increased physical activity among males. Finally, there was evidence that statin use increased the use of blood pressure medication and aspirin for both males and females, although estimates varied considerably in magnitude. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that healthy diet is a strong substitute for statins, but there is only uneven evidence for the hypothesis that investments in disease prevention are complementary.