Developing a Dynamic Microsimulation Model of the Australian Health System: A Means to Explore Impacts of Obesity over the Next 50 Years

Table 1

Models for baseline imputation for health module.

Outcome	Definition
Inadequate physical activity	Less than three sessions of at least 30 minutes moderate activity [60]
At-risk alcohol consumption	Over 18 years: more than two standard drinks in a day Under 18 years: any alcohol consumption [61]
Smoker	Any reported volume of smoking
Obese	Body mass index greater than 30 [62]
Health status	Self-reported health ranked between excellent and poor on a 5-point scale
Private health insurance	Any expenditure on private health insurance coverage in the last year
Health service usage	Medical: number of MBS^1services per person per year Pharmaceutical: number of PBS^2 scripts per persons per year Hospital: number of hospital admissions per person per year, and number of bed days per hospital admission
Health service costs	Medical: costs per MBS service Pharmaceutical: cost per PBS script Hospital: cost per hospital bed day

1MBS refers to the medical benefits scheme which provides government funding for medical practitioner services, optometry, diagnostic imaging, and pathology tests.
2PBS refers to the pharmaceutical benefits scheme which provides government subsidy to achieve “affordable access to necessary and cost-effective medicines” [7].