Diabetes is a unique condition, in that the first line of treatment of the condition is the same as the suggested prevention of the disease, both being positive lifestyle behaviours.
It is theoretically possible that by jointly partaking in diabetes treatment, partners of people with diabetes would substantially benefit from their partners’ diabetes diagnosis. Using blood data from the Health Survey for England, and a fuzzy regression kink design, we causally estimate the effect of a diabetes diagnosis on health-related behaviours of the individual with diabetes, as well as, their partners. We find that a diagnosis of diabetes results in a significant increase in the probability of exercising and a decrease in the probability of currently being a smoker both for the diabetic individual and their partner. However, we find limited evidence of other lifestyle changes. From a public health perspective, our results are especially important for the evaluation of diabetes related policies, while positive spillovers, particularly within households, should be taken into account in the evaluation process.
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More information on this seminar can be found on VERBseminar.org. Registration is required and can also be done there.
Organisers
- Tinna Laufey Ásgeirsdóttir (University of Iceland)
- Ana Inés Balsa (Universidad de Montevideo)
- John Cawley (Cornell University)
- Hans van Kippersluis (Erasmus University Rotterdam)