Abstract 045: Incremental Medical Expenditures Attributable to Hypertension in China’s Middle-aged and Elderly Population

Background: Hypertension is a prevalent and costly health condition in China. We sought to estimate the inpatient and outpatient expenditures attributable to hypertension among China’s middle-aged and elderly population. Methods: Data for this study was from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey (CHARLS) 2011 and 2013, a comprehensive and nationally representative survey of Chinese residents aged 45 and older. We selected our study sample among respondents who had complete information on biomarker blood pressure measures and had not developed hypertension in 2011. Hypertension in 2013 was identified in the following steps: (a) He/she had an average systolic blood pressure of ≥ 140 mmHg, and/or an average diastolic blood pressure of ≥ 90 mmHg and/or (b) He/she was currently taking anti-hypertensive medications. The outcome measures were total inpatient expenditures in the past year and outpatient expenditures in the last month. We used a difference-in-difference approach, by classifying those...