A Regression Analysis on the Impact of Smoking Level of Exercise and Weight on Medical Cost
CHAPTER ONE
Aims and objectives of the study
The following are the objectives of the study:
- To know if there is a relationship between smokers and their weight.
- To study the impact of smoking and lack of exercise on health conditions of patients.
- To know the nature of relationship between smoking, weight, level of exercise on the medical cost of patients.
- To study the relationship between weight and health care cost of patients.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED AND RELEVANT LITERATURE
Introduction
Good health is very important because a person of good health can put through a large amount of work in a short time. A person of perfect health does not shirk his duties. He can work properly and leaves nothing undone. As a student, he shines in his examinations. As a public worker, he renders valuable service and is duly rewarded. The cultivator generally enjoys excellent health. He works in the field year in and year out and produces plentiful crops. A sound mind in a sound body is a very popular and wise saying. A person in the pink of health enjoys all the good things of life. He finds vigor and strength to do his work. He relishes the food he takes. He feels life in every limb. He keeps a cheerful temper and goes through life’s journey with joy. The vitality and energy of a healthy person always make him feel intensely that he is living. Air, sky, work, food, clothes, games, social work, entertainment – everything gives him delight. He regards life as a solid, pleasant, unique gift of God.
Therefore, good health is a priceless blessing in life. The famous saying ‘Health is Wealth ‘highlights the importance of good health in our life.
SMOKING
Tobacco use kills more than 480,000 people each year in the United States—more than the total number killed by AIDS, alcohol, motor vehicles, homicide, illegal drugs and suicide combined.1 Among current smokers, 57 percent of all male deaths and nearly 50 percent of all deaths in women are attributed to smoking.2 Even if the number of smoking related deaths were cut in half, smoking would still kill more people than all of these other causes. In 1964, the Surgeon General first documented the harmful effects of smoking in Smoking and Health: Report of the Advisory Committee of the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service, which summarized the state of the science knowledge regarding tobacco use at that time.3 Research conducted since then has firmly established that smoking and other forms of tobacco consumption cause an enormous amount of health problems and related death and suffering.
- According to the 2014 Surgeon General’s Report, cigarette smoking today is even more dangerous than previously thought. Cigarette smoking has been linked to disease of nearly all organs of the body, to diminished health status, and to harm to the fetus.
- A New England Journal of Medicine study, published in 2013, concluded that compared to those who never smoke, smokers lose at least a decade of life expectance. Further, quitting smoking before age 40 reduces the risk of death from continued smoking by about ninety percent.
CHAPTER THREE
STUDY METHODOLOGY
Introduction
This chapter describes the methodological framework used in attaining the stated objectives of the study. It also shows the research hypothesis postulated. The main focus of this chapter is on the research design, type and sources of data, the model developed for this study and the tool of analysis.
Research design
A longitudinal study, like a cross-sectional one, is observational. So, researchers do not interfere with their subjects. However, in a longitudinal study, researchers conduct several observations of the same subjects over a period of time, sometimes lasting many years. The benefit of a longitudinal study is that researchers are able to detect developments or changes in the characteristics of the target population at both the group and the individual level. The key here is that longitudinal studies extend beyond a single moment in time. As a result, they can establish sequences of events.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION OF DATA, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSIONS
Unit Roots Test Result
In this study, the Phillip-Perron (PP) unit roots test was employed to test for the time series properties of model variables. The null hypothesis is that the variable under investigation has a unit root against the alternative that it does not.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION, AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to reiterate that the objective of this study was to examine the impact of smoking level, lack of exercise and Over weight on Medical Cost.
In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in examining the impact of smoking level, lack of exercise and Over weight on Medical Cost.
Summary
This study was undertaken to appraise the impact of smoking level, lack of exercise and Over weight on Medical Cost. The study was introduced with chapter one where the statement of the problem was clearly defined. The study objectives and research hypothesis were defined and formulated respectively. The study reviewed related and relevant literatures. The chapter two gave the conceptual framework, empirical and theoretical studies. The third chapter described the methodology employed by the researcher in collecting both the primary and the secondary data. The research method employed here is the descriptive survey method. The study analyzed and presented the data collected in tables and tested the hypotheses using the time series statistical method with aid of E-view software 9.0. While the fifth chapter gives the study summary and conclusion.
Conclusion
A healthy person can reasonably be proud of his possession. The healthy person, even if he is a man of moderate means, can find pleasure in ordinary activities like walking and sports. When health is impaired men have to spend a lot of money in order to recover it. For a ‘change’ they go to hilly or sea-side resorts. They take costly tonics and capsules and injections. In these days the fee of a specialist doctor is also alarming. Loss of health can produce endless misery and make a young man feel like an over-aged one, ‘Sans teeth, sans taste, sans everything’. Exercise not only makes you physically fitter but it also improves your all body health and general sense of well-being. Physical activity or exercise can reduce the risk of developing several diseases like type 2 diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease. Daily exercise can reduce stress and anxiety, boost happy chemicals, improve self-confidence, increase the brain power, sharpen the memory and increase our muscles and bones strength. Physical activity and exercise can have immediate and long-term health benefits. Most importantly, regular activity can improve your quality of life.
REFERENCE
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- American Association of Kidney Patients, Physical Activity and Exercise: The Wonder Drug Retrieved, 2014. 21.
- American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts & Figures 2014. Atlanta, Ga: American Cancer Society; 2014.
- American College of Sports Medicine.Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription. 6th ed. Baltimore, Md: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2000.
- American Lung Association. About COPD.Accessed at www.lung.org/lung-disease/copd/about-copd/symptoms-diagnosis-treatment.html on February 11, 2014.
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- Andrea L Dunn, Madhukar H Trivedi, James B Kampert, Camillia G Clark, Heather O. Chambliss Exercise treatment for depression: Efficacy and dose response American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2005; 28(1):1- 8. 26.
