Assessing the Effects of Important Factors and Province Heterogeneity on Different Quantiles of Hospitalization Cost

ABSTRACT

Objectives: The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of some covariates on different quantiles of the cost of hospitalization. The effect of the province that the individual belongs to on these quantiles will be also examined.

Methods: We employed a linear quantile-mixed model (LQMM) for analyzing the cost of hospitalization in Iranians Utilization of Health Services (IUHS) survey considering the province effect, the effects of some important covariates, and also the effect of the choice of the random-effects distribution. For this, both classical and Bayesian approaches are used for parameter estimation.

Results: The results of data analysis show that ward, type of hospital, and duration of hospitalization are significant factors on quantiles of the cost of hospitalization, of course with different impacts on different quantiles. Our findings reveal significant discrepancies in the cost of hospitalization in different provinces and significant heterogeneity among provinces.

Conclusion: More works must be done related to hospitalization cost and its consequences since it is a matter of social life. To be exact, one should notice that provinces with hospitals involving high hospitalization costs may have households dealing with poverty.

KEYWORDS:

• IUHS data
• random effects
• quantile regression

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the Statistical Research and Training Center (SRTC) and the Ministry of Health and Medical Education (MOHME) for providing the data set. The authors also would like to thank the reviewers for their valuable comments.

Reviewers disclosure

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial relationships or otherwise to disclose.

Declaration of interest

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.

Additional information

Funding

This paper was not funded.