Katri Aaltonen
Expertise
- pharmaceutical policy
- system research
- register-based research
- survey research
- comparative study
Ongoing research projects
Ongoing research projects concern the impact of policy reforms, access to healthcare and medicines in Finland and Europe, European pharmaceutical reimbursement schemes, attitudes and opinions of population, and healthcare financing.
Publications
- Aaltonen K, Niemelä M, Prix I. Citizens’ opinions and experiences related to costs and reimbursements for medications in times of retrenchment: Cross-sectional population surveys in 2015 and 2017 Int J Equity Health 21, 33 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-022-01631-6
- Tervola J, Aaltonen K, Tallgren F. Can people afford to pay for health care? - New evidence on financial protection in Finland. Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2021. ISBN 978-92-890-5600-7
- Rättö H, Aaltonen K. The effect of pharmaceutical co-payment increase on the use of social assistance. A natural experiment study. Plos One 2021;16(5):e0250305. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0250305
- Rättö H, Kurko T, Martikainen JE, Aaltonen K. The impact of a co-payment increase on the consumption of type 2 antidiabetics. A nationwide interrupted time series analysis. Health Policy, 125(9):1166-1172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2021.05.007
- Aaltonen K, Martikainen JE. Lääkkeiden kulutuksen, käytön ja kustannusten mittaaminen. In: Hämeen-Anttila K & Katajavuori N. Yhteiskunnallinen lääketutkimus. Ideasta näyttöön. Helsinki: Helsingin yliopisto, 2021. https://doi.org/10.31885/9789515150417
- Aaltonen K, Kotimäki S, Salonen L, Tenhunen E. Terveyserot. In: Mattila M (ed.) Eriarvoisuuden tila Suomessa 2020. Helsinki: Kalevi Sorsa -säätiö, 2020: 65-94.
- Aaltonen K, Tervola J, Heino P. Analysing the effects of healthcare payment policies in conjunction with tax-benefit policies: A microsimulation study with real-world healthcare data. INVEST Working Paper, 2021. SocArxiv: https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/m7h3u
- Tervola J, Aaltonen K, Heino P, Kajantie M, Kari H, Ollonqvist J. Kotitalouksien terveysmenojen vaikutukset köyhyyteen Suomessa. University of Turku: INVEST Working Papers 1, 2020. http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-29-7977-6
- Mäklin S, Laukkonen ML, Aaltonen K, Heino P, Koskinen H, Saastamoinen L, Hyvärinen A, Reinikainen L. Lääkehoidon kokonaiskustannukset ja apteekkitalous: Esiselvitys. Sosiaali- ja terveysministeriö: raportteja ja muistioita 1, 2020. http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-00-4132-8
- Kari H, Martikainen JE, Heino P, Aaltonen K. Toimeentulotuesta maksetut lääkemenot. In: Korpela T et al. (eds.), Ojista allikkoon? Toimeentulotukiuudistuksen ensi metrit. Helsinki: Kela, Teemakirja 18, 2020: 328-359. http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2020090165981
Publications and research projects
The Impact of Increasing User Charges for Diabetes Medicines: Lessons From Finland
The impact of the increase in diabetes medicines co-payments.
Solutions for Building a Sustainable Society: Population Health and Wellbeing Report 2025
The report examines the state, development and future of Finnish wellbeing and health, as well as related questions in health and social services, social security and crisis resilience.
Prescribing Patterns Before the Initiation of Novel Antidiabetic Medicines in Public, Occupational, and Private Healthcare: A Register Study Reflecting the Guidelines of Care in Type 2 Diabetes
We compared the preceding prescribing patterns of patients who initiated a sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor or a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analogue in public, occupational, and private healthcare.
The Effect of Informal Caregiving on Depression: An Asymmetric Panel Fixed-Effects Analysis of In-Home and Out-Of-Home Caregivers Across Europe
In-home caregivers experience more pronounced increases to their reported depressive symptoms after starting to provide daily personal care than do out-of-home caregivers.
Financial Burden of Medicines in Five Northern European Countries: A Decommodification Perspective
The relationship between income, other characteristics, and subjective financial burden of medicines (FBM) across five countries (Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden).
The impact of income distribution and use of benefits in healthcare and social welfare
The project builds a model to assess the overall impact of legal changes on households' social and healthcare expenditures and income.
Analysing the Effects of Healthcare Payment Policies on Poverty: A Microsimulation Study With Real-World Healthcare Data
We present a method for examining how health payment policies and tax-benefit policies affect household income in conjunction to evaluate the total effect of implemented and planned policies.
Austerity, Economic Hardship and Access to Medications: A Repeated Cross-Sectional Population Survey Study, 2013-2020
Whether austerity increased socioeconomic inequality in access to medications and comparing access problems to other forms of economic hardship.
Citizens’ Opinions and Experiences Related to Costs and Reimbursements for Medications in Times of Retrenchment: Cross-Sectional Population Surveys in 2015 and 2017
Despite the protective policies in place, individuals with chronic illness were disproportionately burdened by costs of medications already before the reforms.
The Impact of a Co-Payment Increase on the Consumption of Type 2 Antidiabetics: A Nationwide Interrupted Time Series Analysis
We examined the impact of a co-payment increase on the consumption of type 2 antidiabetics in Finland, a country with a comprehensive health and social security system including ceiling mechanisms aiming to protect patients from high co-payment expenditures.
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