Urban Institute

About: Urban Institute is a nonprofit organization based out in Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Medicaid & Population. The organization has 927 authors who have published 2330 publications receiving 86426 citations.

Sicker and Poorer: The Consequences of Being Uninsured

Abstract: In the opening article of this special supplemental issue, Jack Hadley presents a detailed review of 25 years of research literature on the impact of health insurance on health and access to care. Using a model of the determinants of health to organize and interpret empirical findings, Hadley finds corroborating evidence that the uninsured receive fewer preventive and diagnostic services, tend to be more severely ill when diagnosed, and receive less therapeutic care as compared to the uninsured. Hadley reports a 4 to 25 percent reduction in the uninsured?s mortality, if they were otherwise insured. Additionally, his review notes that improving health status from fair or poor to very good or excellent would increase both work effort and annual earnings by as much as 20 percent. (Medical Care Research and Review 60(2)(supplement): 3S?75S, June 2003.)

Adolescent Health Risk Profiles: The Co-Occurrence of Health Risks among Females and Males

Abstract: This analysis examines the complexity of adolescent health risk behaviors using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), a nationally representative study of students. The current sample includes 12,955 students (6,626 females and 6,329 males) in grades 9 through 12. Cluster analysis was conducted separately by gender to examine the interrelationships among eight health risk behaviors: sexual activity, general alcohol use, binge drinking, cigarette use, marijuana use, other illicit drug use, fighting, and suicide. Four distinct clusters for females and males were identified based on their profiles of risk-taking behavior. Females and males both report low- and high-risk profiles, and a risk profile with high alcohol use and sexual activity. Females have two distinct risk profiles, one that is highest on every measure of risk compared to others and one that has high levels of fighting and suicide with little participation in substance use or sexual activity. Males have a distinct risk profile with particularly high rates of marijuana use and suicidal behaviors. Few distinctions exist between profiles based on sociodemographic characteristics.