This proposal creates a program of mentored research and training aimed at further developing the candidate's established research skills in economics, demography, and history to be of more specific relevance to the study of aging. The general, long-term goal of the proposed research is to study the evolution of chronic disease--its incidence, determinants, consequences and treatments--from the beginning of the modern decline in older-age mortality in the nineteenth century up to the present, with special emphasis on economic aspects of these issues. The specific program is in three parts, each of which involves an important but institutionally separate locus of aging research at the University of Chicago. This diversity will enhance the candidate's development, while the interdisciplinary nature of the research program will improve communication and the exchange of ideas among the groups. Professor Robert Fogel will oversee the entire program as principal advisor and work directly with the candidate on research projects involving Fogel's NIA-sponsored Union Army study. The primary sample is detailed life histories of Civil War veterans linking evidence from military and pension records, censuses, and other sources to cover both economic and health histories. From these records we can study the interaction of health status and economic variables like retirement, savings, income, migration, and living arrangements in cohorts at an early stage in the decline of older-age mortality. Professor Robert Willis (NORC, Harris School) will work with the candidate in studies using the Health and Retirement Survey, a longitudinal study of today's older cohorts. By comparing similar empirical models using similar data we can see how the economic determinants and consequences of health have changed over the epidemiologic transition. We also intend to explore ways to augment the HRS with historical evidence on the early-life experiences of the sample cohorts and individuals. The HRS will also be an important input into the third aspect of the research program. Dr. Christine Cassel (Center for Health Studies and Chief, Section of Internal Medicine) will advise the candidate's training in the area of outcomes research, i.e., the use of both experimental (clinical trial) and non-experimental (survey) data in the economic evaluation of health treatments and interventions for the formation of policy. The training will include a modest amount of coursework in medical ethics, health policy, and statistical methods of epidemiological research. By placing the evaluation of specific interventions in the context of the long-term evolution of economic responses to health status we can better forecast the full costs and benefits of health policy to individuals, government, and society.
| Elliott, W J; Weir, D R; Black, H R (2000) Cost-effectiveness of the lower treatment goal (of JNC VI) for diabetic hypertensive patients. Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure. Arch Intern Med 160:1277-83 |
| Elliott, W J; Weir, D R (1999) Comparative cost-effectiveness of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors in secondary prevention of acute myocardial infarction. Am J Health Syst Pharm 56:1726-32 |
