The Influence of the Income Level on the Amount of Expenses for Purchase of Medicines by the Population in Older Age Groups

Abstract

The purpose of the study based on the data of an anonymous survey is to assess the level of costs for purchasing medicines among the population aged 60 years and older and to analyze the interdependence between the level of material well-being and the level of costs for purchasing medicines. The study was conducted on the basis of a survey of 927 people aged 60 years and older living in Moscow. The questionnaire included questions about the amount of expenses for the purchase of medicines, expressed as a share of the monthly income of a family that was spent on the purchase of medicines. The term «family» is understood as a group of people who lead a common household, regardless of their degree of kinship. To study the impact of income on the cost of purchasing medicines, the questionnaire included a question about the amount of a family's monthly income per member. When analyzing dependencies, such characteristic properties as the Association coefficient (CA), information content (INF), and the Chi-square criterion were calculated. The study revealed that the relationship between the level of material well-being and the level of expenditure on the purchase of medicines is very complex and ambiguous, with pronounced gender differences. In the course of this study, no correlation between the level of disposable income and the share of the total monthly income of a family that is spent on the purchase of medicines was observed. However, there is a correlation between the share of the total monthly income of a family that is spent on food and the share that is spent on the purchase of medicines. The degree of the dependence increases with ageing, which indicates the possibility of purchasing a drug as the main factor in making a decision. The degree of dependence is less pronounced in men below 70 and older and is stronger in women starting from the age of 65 years. The strongest dependence was registered in women of the age group of 70 years and older.