Important Dependency-Associated Community Resources among Elderly Individuals with a Low Level of Social Support in China.

The prevalence of dependency personality disorder is high among elderly individuals with a low level of social support. The objective of this study was to explore the dependency associated with important community resources among elderly individuals with a low level of social support from the perspective of resource demand. The population-based cross-sectional study was conducted in 22 locations in China. A total of 950 participants aged ≥60 years were selected using a complex multistage sampling design. All the data were collected using questionnaires via face-to-face interviews. The dependency was assessed using the standardized Chinese version of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-II. Community resources were assessed using 43 items. Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the association between dependency and important community resources. Bivariate analysis showed that the level of social support was negatively associated with levels of income ( < 0.001) and education ( = 0.008) and was positively associated with social communication and interactions ( < 0.001). The logistic regression analysis showed that the emergency call or survival monitoring system (ECSMS) was the most important community resource that was significantly associated with the levels of dependency; the odds ratio was 2.64 (95% CI, 1.07-3.91; = 0.031) among elderly individuals with a low level of social support. The levels of dependency were most significantly associated with the ECSMS among elderly individuals with a low level of social support. Our results suggest that improving the ECSMS can be the main problem in the development of community resources.