Introduction
Chronic disease prevalence is among the US’s most critical and significant public health issues. For instance, recent studies show that about 50% of adults in the country have at least one diagnosed chronic disease and about 30% of adults in America have suffered from multiple chronic conditions (Boersma et al., 2020). Moreover, chronic conditions often cause many illnesses, disabilities, and deaths in the United States, requiring approximately $4 trillion for the prevention and treatment of citizens (“Health and economic benefits,” 2022). Thus, the nature, essence, and specificity of this problem are associated mainly with the citizens’ level and quality of life and the amounts of health care costs. This issue manifests at the micro, meso, and macro levels. One should pay special attention to chronic disease prevalence as a public health issue in this paper.
Economic Principles and Indicators
The application of basic economic principles and indicators in solving the problem is often expressed in the competent and correct allocation of resources and satisfaction of the desires and needs of specific patients. For example, increased financial incentives to implement better care have contributed to fewer complications and risks due to chronic diseases in patients (Holman, 2020). Moreover, allocating sufficient funds to improve educational programs in medical institutions contributed to a better awareness of chronic diseases and their treatment in people. In other words, economic principles and indicators should be mainly associated with a systematic approach, a combination of sectoral and territorial planning, the allocation of priority areas, directive plans, ensuring balance in the development of all health sectors, and much more.
Economic Impacts
Substantial expenses on benefits, care, and assistance to people with chronic diseases, as well as losses in the economy due to a decrease in labor productivity and a reduction in labor resources due to the presence of chronic diseases in some citizens, are the most apparent economic impacts. For example, the highest costs are incurred for frequent and long periods of hospitalization of citizens with chronic diseases (Hayes & Gillian, 2020). In addition, a considerable part of the costs falls on procedures and medicine purchases for patients with certain illnesses (Hayes & Gillian, 2020). Accordingly, chronic disease prevalence in the US is an issue that has significant economic impacts on the financial components of the country and requires high costs to minimize and eradicate it. However, the structure of the significant damage is dominated by indirect economic losses caused by the premature death of people of economically active age. These data indicate that priority attention should be paid to measures aimed at preventing the occurrence of chronic diseases by correcting risk factors in the population and slowing the progression of the disease by increasing investments in prevention and treatment.
Socioeconomic Factors
Chronic diseases have a negative impact on family incomes because people sometimes do not have the opportunity to work and have to spend most of their money on treatment. In this case, poor health significantly and reliably reduces labor productivity, affecting the likelihood of depression and even consumption of alcohol, cigarettes, and banned substances. Young people with these conditions are more likely to report drunkenness, smoking, and lack of physical activity, leading to obesity (Watson et al., 2022). In addition, the life of people with chronic diseases brings difficulties in obtaining education, work, and general means of existence; this circumstance can affect an individual family and society as a whole (Hayes & Gillian, 2020). Consequently, an increase in unemployment, lack of prospects for education, substance dependence, a high risk of developing psychological problems, and inequality in receiving good medical care are among the few socioeconomic factors of the issue. Poverty, mortality of socially vulnerable people, and depletion of household resources can also be included in this list (“Noncommunicable diseases,” 2022). Chronic disease prevalence in the US, to a relatively broad extent expressed in the manifestation of major socioeconomic factors.
Healthcare Organizations
Chronic Disease Center (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) are the two large organizations influencing the solution to the issue. For instance, CDC conducts active research to understand the specifics of the spread of the problem within the United States to create and implement new and advanced treatment plans for patients with chronic diseases (Watson et al., 2022). On the other hand, WHO aims to develop ambitious measures by 2030, reducing premature mortality from chronic diseases through quality prevention and treatment (“Noncommunicable diseases,” 2022). In general, WHO plays a vital role in the fight against chronic disease prevalence not only in the United States but also around the world.
Conclusion
Summarizing the above, one should state that chronic disease prevalence is one of the essential problems in the field of public health in the United States and is largely related to economic and social factors and outcomes. The prevalence of this problem causes losses to the country’s economy due to high spending on treating specific patients and eliminating the consequences of the concern. Moreover, such an issue has a connection with socio-economic aspects, contributing to the spread of unemployment, alcoholism, inequality in obtaining specific privileges, and much more. Nevertheless, measures such as improving medical student training programs and the financial motivation of medics were able to mitigate the problem to a certain extent. Organizations such as the CDC and WHO are contributing to solving this trouble by introducing new plans and programs to care for patients with chronic diseases.
References
Boersma, P., Black, L.I., & Ward, B.W. (2020). Prevalence of multiple chronic conditions among US adults, 2018. Preventing Chronic Disease, 17, 1-4. Web.
Holman, H.R. (2020). The relation of the chronic disease epidemic to the health care crisis. American College of Rheumatology, 2(3), 167-173. Web.
Hayes, T.O., & Gillian, S. (2020). Chronic disease in the United States: A worsening health and economic crisis. The American Action Forum. Web.
Health and economic benefits of chronic disease interventions. (2022). National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Web.
Noncommunicable diseases. (2022). WHO. Web.
Watson, K.B., Carlson, S.A., Loustalot, F., Town, M., Eke, P.I., Thomas, C.W., & Greenlund, K.J. (2022). Chronic conditions among adults aged 18─34 years — United States, 2019. Weekly, 71(30), 964-970. Web.