Measurement and determinants of catastrophic health expenditure among elderly households in China using longitudinal data from the CHARLS

Table 1 Household descriptive statistics^a (N = 2790)

Variables	Definition	2011	2013	2015
Variables	Definition	Mean (SD^b)	Mean (SD)	Mean (SD)
Health expenditure per month	Continuous variable	34 (109)	62 (273)	77 (301)
Total expenditure	Continuous variable	314 (357)	404 (693)	448 (709)
Non-food expenditure	Continuous variable	144 (219)	213 (518)	250 (593)
Predisposing factors
Household member age above 75		0.16 (0.36)	0.23 (0.42)	0.30 (0.46)
Marriage	0 = No spouse 1 = With spouse	0.70 (0.46)	0.65 (0.47)	0.65 (0.48)
Enabling factors
Household size	Continuous variable	2.54 (1.83)	4.28 (1.58)	2.38 (1.20)
Economic status	1 = Poorest 2 = Poor 3 = Average 4 = Richer 5 = Richest	2.57 (1.39)	2.50 (1.36)	2.37 (1.35)
Insurance type^c	0 = NI 1 = UEBMI 2 = UBMI 3 = OI	1.81 (0.51)	1.80 (0.49)	1.84 (0.40)
Area	0 = Urban 1 = Rural	0.67 (0.49)	0.67 (0.47)	0.67 (0.47)
Zone	0 = Eastern 1 = Middle 2 = Western	1.14 (0.80)	1.14 (0.80)	1.14 (0.80)
Need factors
Inpatient or not	0 = No 1 = Yes	0.15 (0.36)	0.22 (0.36)	0.26 (0.44)
Chronic disease or not	0 = No 1 = Yes	0.83 (0.37)	0.83 (0.38)	0.87 (0.34)
Disability or not	0 = No 1 = Yes	0.30 (0.46)	0.45 (0.50)	0.46 (0.50)
Outpatient or not	0 = No 1 = Yes	0.30 (0.46)	0.32 (0.47)	0.30 (0.46)

Note: (a) Sorting was performed according to the CHARLS survey data; (b) The standard deviation is shown in parentheses; (c) Abbreviations: NI, no insurance; UEBMI, Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance; UBMI, Unified Basic Medical Insurance for urban residents without formal employment and rural residents; OI, other insurance

ISSN: 1475-9276