The health care utilization and out-of-pocket expenditure associated with asthma amongst a sample of Australian women aged over 45 years: analysis from the '45 and up' study.

This study aims to describe the prevalence of health care utilization (including conventional medicine, self-care and complementary medicine treatments) for the management of asthma by women aged 45 years and over and their associated out-of-pocket expenditure. A self-reported mail survey of 375 Australian women, a cohort of the national 45 and Up Study, reporting a clinical diagnosis of asthma. The women were asked about their use of health care resources including conventional medicine, complementary medicine, and self-prescribed treatments for asthma and their associated out-of-pocket spending. Spearman's correlation coefficient, student's t-test and chi-square test were used as appropriate. Population level costs were created by extrapolating the costs reported by participants by available national prevalence data. Survey respondents ( The breadth of conventional and complementary medicine health care services reported in this study, as well as the range of treatments that patients self-prescribe, highlights the challenges of coordinating care for individuals living with asthma.