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Jacqui Smith and colleagues explore association between life satisfaction and health care utilization

December 16, 2013

Along with Eric Kim, Jennifer Sun and Christopher Peterson, Jacqui Smith used HRS data to study links between happiness and doctor visits among American adults 50+ years of age. They found, after adjusting for sociodemographic factors, that higher satisfaction with life was associated with fewer doctor visits — a finding that could have important implications for reducing health care costs.