Project number: FK134573
It is well known that life expectancy in Hungary lags behind European Union (EU) average by about five years. Looking at some major diseases in detail, mortality after a heart attack exceeds EU average by half, diabetes-related mortality by more than half. Meanwhile, the per capita use of antidepressants is less than half of the OECD average, pointing to substantial unmet needs in the treatment of depression and other psychiatric diseases. Also, there are huge socioeconomic and geographical inequalities in health care use and health outcomes, including the above diseases. Our research will help understand the origins of these inequalities and suggest ways to reduce them.
1. We will decompose health inequalities into patient-, district- and physician-level components to shed light on the relative role of these factors.
2. We will separate the role of the labour market (e.g. employment status) and the health care system (e.g. the availability of rehabilitation services) on the mortality and labour market behaviour after a heart attack.
3. We will examine the socioeconomic determinants of antidepressant and tranquilizer consumption as well as the price sensitivity and the mechanisms of the spread of the generic antidepressants.
