Health Quality and Cost of Living in Asian Cities

Abstract

Health is now a global concern. However, only a few studies are conducted on how the cost of living affects the quality of health care. This study aimed to determine the relationships between the cost of living and quality of healthcare. It is a quantitative method that utilizes data mining technique in the data collection. Numbeo database was used to determine the cost of living and healthcare indices of 36 Asian cities. Statistical treatment was employed using statistical software to generate patterns and to determine the relationships of these indices through regression analysis. The scatterplot revealed different patterns of the high cost of living (X) and health care index (Y), namely: 1) simple linear model (inverse relation), 2) simple linear model (directly proportional) and 3) elliptical pattern. Findings revealed that there are cities in Asia which allocate more in health care spending than other personal needs. In general, people living in Asia do not necessarily avail of health care programs and services regardless of their cost of living. Such relationship, therefore, differs from one city to another. Nevertheless, the price of living index and health care index relationships infers that there are cities in Asia that tend to increase its health care index when the cost of living increases. These people are health conscious and allocate a higher percentage of their expenses to health and wellness. There are also cities that have minimal budget allocation for health care from their GDP which requires their people to apportion more personal funds for health.