Ito Tomoko, Hirata-Mogi Sachiko, Watanabe Taeko, Sugiyama Takehiro, Jin Xueying, Kobayashi Shu, Tamiya Nanako
Department of Health Services Research, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8577, Japan.
Health Services Research and Development Center, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8577, Japan.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Jan 28;18(3):1148. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18031148.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, social interactions were restricted, including community services for disabled older adults. This study aimed to describe the change of use in community services related to long-term care insurance (LTCI) during the pandemic in Japan. A retrospective descriptive study was conducted using data collected via a cloud-based management support platform for older adult care provider "", by a private-sector company "SMS Co., Ltd.", in which care-managers of LTCI manage their office work. Data collection occurred from July 2019 to June 2020. Study subjects were LTCI service users aged 65 years and above. Subjects were living at home. We examined changes in the number of users of LTCI services before and after the COVID-19 pandemic began, using an interrupted time-series analysis. Results indicated that the use of outpatient services was reduced; however, home-visit services were maintained. The decrease in use was significant in the seven prefectures where the infection initially spread. There are concerns that older adults or surrounding caregivers can be affected by such changes in LTC service use. It is therefore necessary to implement sustainable measures from a long-term perspective and investigate their influence as part of future studies.
在新冠疫情期间，社交互动受到限制，包括为残疾老年人提供的社区服务。本研究旨在描述日本疫情期间与长期护理保险（LTCI）相关的社区服务使用情况的变化。使用一家私营公司“SMS有限公司”通过一个基于云的老年护理服务提供商管理支持平台收集的数据进行了一项回顾性描述性研究，在该平台上，LTCI的护理经理管理他们的办公室工作。数据收集时间为2019年7月至2020年6月。研究对象为65岁及以上的LTCI服务使用者。这些对象均居家生活。我们采用中断时间序列分析方法，研究了新冠疫情开始前后LTCI服务使用者数量的变化。结果表明，门诊服务的使用量减少；然而，上门服务得以维持。在最初出现感染的七个县，服务使用量的下降幅度显著。人们担心老年人或周围的照顾者可能会受到长期护理服务使用情况变化的影响。因此，有必要从长期角度实施可持续措施，并将其影响作为未来研究的一部分进行调查。
