Statistics Norway, Research Department, P.O. Box 2633, St. Hanshaugen, NO-0131, Oslo, Norway.
Department of Health and Inequality, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, P.O. Box 222, Skøyen, NO-0213, Oslo, Norway.
BMC Health Serv Res. 2022 Mar 18;22(1):362. doi: 10.1186/s12913-022-07745-5.
Future demographic and economic changes warrant a better understanding of older persons' need for health-related long-term care services (LTC). LTC uptake among older people is likely to be influenced by the presence or absence of family members, but there is scarce research on the role played by partners with different caregiving potential. There is even less research on the contributions of adult children and their caregiving potential. The current study examines the extent to which transitions into LTC in older men and women differ according to the presence and caregiving potential of partners and children.
Linked registry data for Norway on older persons (aged 65+), their partners, and their adult children are used to examine how characteristics of these family members influence transitions into LTC from 2010 to 2016, using logistic discrete-time hazard regression models. We observed around 215,000 transitions to LTC, corresponding to around 26.3% of individuals and 5.4% of the total person-years (4.0 million). Caregiving potential is measured in terms of employment, income, health and educational attainment for partners and education and geographical proximity for children.
Personal, partner and child(ren)'s resources are all associated with older persons' LTC uptake. Unpartnered and/or childless older people are more likely to use LTC than those with partners and/or child(ren). Older persons with resourceful partners and children are the least likely to transition into LTC. The geographical proximity of adult children appears to have only a minor influence on LTC use among older people.
Population ageing and strained public resources will likely challenge the future provision of formal old-age care. The role of family networks in the future provision of formal old-age care is expected to become progressively important in the years to come. Inequalities in the health, care and welfare of older persons with and without resourceful family members are likely to increase.
未来的人口和经济变化要求我们更好地了解老年人对与健康相关的长期护理服务（LTC）的需求。老年人对 LTC 的接受程度可能受到家庭成员的存在或缺失的影响，但关于具有不同护理潜力的伴侣所扮演的角色的研究甚少。关于成年子女及其护理潜力的贡献的研究就更少了。本研究考察了老年男性和女性进入 LTC 的程度差异，这些差异取决于伴侣和子女的存在和护理潜力。
利用挪威关于老年人（65 岁以上）及其伴侣和成年子女的关联登记数据，使用逻辑离散时间风险回归模型，研究这些家庭成员的特征如何影响 2010 年至 2016 年期间进入 LTC 的情况。我们观察到大约 215,000 人进入 LTC，相当于大约 26.3%的人和约 5.4%的总人年（400 万人）。伴侣的护理潜力是根据就业、收入、健康和教育程度来衡量的，而子女的护理潜力是根据教育程度和地理位置来衡量的。
个人、伴侣和子女的资源都与老年人的 LTC 使用相关。无伴侣和/或无子女的老年人比有伴侣和/或子女的老年人更有可能使用 LTC。有资源丰富的伴侣和子女的老年人最不可能进入 LTC。成年子女的地理位置接近似乎对老年人使用 LTC 的影响较小。
人口老龄化和公共资源紧张可能会对未来的老年护理服务供应构成挑战。在未来的几年里，家庭网络在提供正规老年护理服务方面的作用预计将变得越来越重要。没有资源丰富的家庭成员的老年人在健康、护理和福利方面的不平等可能会增加。
