Cullen M, Blizzard R, Livingston G, Mann A
Middlesex Hospital, London.
Health Trends. 1993;25(4):142-6.
This longitudinal survey of elderly people examines morbidity and service usage. 705 elderly people who lived in their own homes were interviewed as part of the Gospel Oak project in 1987/88, and in 1990, 524 (74.3%) were re-interviewed--90 (12.8%) had died, 51 (7.2%) had moved and 40 (5.7%) refused a follow-up interview. The results indicate that 60% of residents (1987/88 and 1990) had been in contact with community services within the month before the survey. Respondents with depression were mostly in contact with the health service, those with dementia were in contact with social services. Long-term activity-limited people had high contact with both services, although this finding was less likely among newly activity-limited people. Multiple service-users from the first survey were likely to be either dead, or high service-users in 1990. Low service-users tended to continue to be low service-users. New users were generally living alone, aged around 70 years and had been relatively healthy previously. Respondents who stopped using services were generally younger, mostly women, and possibly depressed. People who had never been service-users, were generally younger and healthier. Information on community services performance is inadequate to ensure targeted, efficient services, and this survey gives detailed information to help planning and resource allocation.
这项针对老年人的纵向调查研究了发病率和服务使用情况。1987/1988年，作为福音橡树项目的一部分，对705名居住在自己家中的老年人进行了访谈，1990年，对其中524人（74.3%）进行了再次访谈——90人（12.8%）已去世，51人（7.2%）已搬走，40人（5.7%）拒绝接受随访访谈。结果表明，60%的居民（1987/1988年和1990年）在调查前一个月内与社区服务有过接触。患有抑郁症的受访者大多与卫生服务有接触，患有痴呆症的受访者与社会服务有接触。长期活动受限的人与这两种服务的接触都很多，不过新出现活动受限的人出现这种情况的可能性较小。第一次调查中的多重服务使用者在1990年可能已经去世，或者仍是高服务使用者。低服务使用者往往继续是低服务使用者。新使用者通常独居，年龄在70岁左右，之前相对健康。停止使用服务的受访者一般较年轻，大多为女性，可能患有抑郁症。从未使用过服务的人一般较年轻且健康。关于社区服务绩效的信息不足以确保提供有针对性、高效的服务，而这项调查提供了详细信息以帮助规划和资源分配。
