AN ECONOMIC CONCEPT OF THE SEVERITY OF ILLNESS

EZE, Pius C. (2013) AN ECONOMIC CONCEPT OF THE SEVERITY OF ILLNESS. GOU Journal of Management Social Sciences, 1 (1). pp. 114-121.

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Abstract

This paper develops a conceptual model of severity of illness. The severity of an individual's is a measure of the person's heath condition (or health status) which is a primary determinant of the person demand for medical care. Following common usage, the severity of a person's illness is obtained by comparing the person's level of health when (the person is) sick with the same person fs level of health when (the person is) healthy. The severity is simply the difference between those two health levels. The present paper is partly analytical, with some mathematical representations. In the discussion, effort is made to point out how the severity of a person’s illness ran he ascertained empirical from the types of survey data available to economists. A hindering problem in Nigeria is the non-availability of such data. In any case, an empirical measure of the severity of illness needs to recognize that the severity of illness is a latent variable. As a result, it is necessary to employ proxies in constructing empirically the latent variable. With the hope that appropriate data become available in due course, an empirical model can be presented in a future Paper.

Item Type: Article
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions
Divisions: Faculty of Management and Social Sciences
Depositing User: mrs chioma hannah
Date Deposited: 10 May 2019 14:30
Last Modified: 10 May 2019 14:30
URI: http://eprints.gouni.edu.ng/id/eprint/1505

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