The effect of older population on public health spending: evidences from Spain.

The gradual ageing of the population, and its effect on public spending, constitutes an urgent challenge for advanced economies. In this context, the effect that the older population has on the growing public health spending is a topic of great interest to researchers and policy makers. This cross-sectional study analyzes, through logistic regression, the effect that the elderly population has on Spanish public health spending based on the factors associated with its use, through the analysis of different dependent variables of use of health services and consumption of health technology. The results indicate that although, in general terms, aged has an effect on the consumption of both health services and technology, the main factors that explain both are related to the so-called need factors: self-reported health status, presence of chronic diseases, and disability. The results of this study may be valid for the design of public health policies that allow rationalizing the consumption of health services and health technology.