Does health information affect lifestyle behaviours? The impact of a diabetes diagnosis

Gaggero, Alessio and Gil, Joan and Jiménez-Rubio, Dolores and Zucchelli, Eugenio (2022) Does health information affect lifestyle behaviours? The impact of a diabetes diagnosis. Soc. Sci. Med., 314: 115420. ISSN 0277-9536

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Abstract

Despite an increasing interest in the effect of health information on health-behaviours, evidence on the causal impact of a diagnosis on lifestyle factors is still mixed and does not often account for long-term effects. We explore the role of health information in individual health-related decisions by identifying the causal impact of a type-2 diabetes diagnosis on body mass index (BMI) and lifestyle behaviours. We employ a fuzzy regression discontinuity design (RDD) exploiting the exogenous cut-off value in the diagnosis of type-2 diabetes provided by a biomarker (glycated haemoglobin) drawn from unique administrative longitudinal data from Spain. We find that following a type-2 diabetes diagnosis individuals appear to reduce their weight in the short-term. Differently from previous studies, we also provide evidence of statistically significant long-term impacts of a type-2 diabetes diagnosis on BMI up to three years from the diagnosis. We do not find perceivable effects of a type-2 diabetes diagnosis on quitting smoking or drinking. Overall, health information appears to have a sustained causal impact on weight reduction, a key lifestyle and risk factor among individuals with type-2 diabetes.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Soc. Sci. Med.
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3300/3306
Subjects:
?? administrative databody mass indexdiabeteshealth informationlifestyle behavioursregression discontinuity designhealth(social science)history and philosophy of science ??
ID Code:
178171
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
28 Oct 2022 15:50
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
15 Jul 2024 23:12