Regional differences in healthcare costs further explained: The contribution of health, lifestyle, loneliness and mastery.

Healthcare costs in the Netherlands are rising and vary considerably among regions. Explaining regional differences in healthcare costs can help policymakers in targeting appropriate interventions in order to restrain costs. Factors usually taken into account when analyzing regional differences in healthcare costs are demographic structure and socioeconomic status (SES). However, health, lifestyle, loneliness and mastery have also been linked to healthcare costs. Therefore, this study analyzes the contribution of health, lifestyle factors (BMI, alcohol consumption, smoking and physical activity), loneliness, and mastery to regional differences in healthcare costs. Analyses are performed in a linked dataset ( The online version of this article (10.1007/s12508-022-00369-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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