Abstract (may include machine translation)
Economic models of patient decision-making emphasize the costs of getting medical attention and the improved physical health that results from it. This note builds a model of patient decision-making when fears or anxiety about the future - captured as beliefs about next period's state of health - also enter the patient's utility function. Anxiety can lead the patient to avoid doctor's visits or other easily available information about her health. However, this avoidance cannot take any form: she will never avoid the doctor with small problems, and under regularity conditions she will never go to a bad doctor to limit the information received.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 1073-1084 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Journal of Health Economics |
Volume | 22 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Nov 2003 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Behavior
- Economic model
- Health anxiety