The role of social support in the association between dependency and important risk factors among the elderly

Research on the establishment of evaluation index system of the aging construction of the community

Introduction

Constructing the evaluation index system for the community's aging-friendly construction can provide a decision-making basis for the overall investment and priority satisfaction strategy for the community's aging-friendly construction.

Methods

Through questionnaire survey and statistical analysis, this paper evaluates and analyzes the satisfaction level of various indicators of the community's aging-friendly construction.

Results

The results show that the community's humanistic care, public environment, and socio-economic criteria are significantly linearly linked to the overall construction satisfaction level. There are significant differences in the general satisfaction level of older adults in the variables of "age, educational background, residence duration, residence personnel, number of children, and marital status".

Discussion

To this end, the article concludes with specific recommendations that improving older-adult care services for older adults with low age and high education, helping older adults in the community to familiarize themselves with the community environment as soon as possible, cultivating the professional abilities of community service personnel, reflecting the warmth of the community for older-adult care and improving social security capabilities are the core content of the future community building for aging.

Association between community environment and dependency among the elderly people from a service provision perspective

BACKGROUND

The incidence of dependency is high among the elderly people worldwide and increases with increasing life expectancy. The purpose of this study was to establish from the perspective of resource demand the association between community environmental resources and dependency among the elderly people.

METHODS

This study is a cross-sectional design based on community from 22 locations in China. A multistage sampling method was used to select the study objects. The questionnaires were used to collect the survey data by face-to-face interviews. A total of 950 individuals completed the survey, and 913 individuals were available for this analysis. Dependency and community environment were measured using the standard instruments. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the community environment factors associated with dependency. Cluster analysis was used and demonstrated that dependency was mainly associated with community primary preventive care service resources.

RESULTS

In the group aged under 70 years, the utilization of electronic health records and the need for health assessments, and rehabilitation equipment rentals were significantly associated with the levels of dependency scores: the OR was 2.81, 2.25 and 2.13 (P < 0.05), respectively. In the group aged 70 years and over, a short-term care home was strongly associated with levels of dependency: the OR was 4.01 (P = 0.002). The daycare and nursing service, transportation service, and regular lectures on health knowledge were associated with levels of dependency: the OR was 2.41, 1.86 and 1.93 (P < 0.05). In the group with low social support, an emergency call or monitoring system, transportation services, the need for health assessment, and regular lectures on health knowledge were significantly associated with levels of dependency: the OR was 2.42, 2.19, 1.89 and 1.98 (P < 0.05), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Community environment resources were significantly associated with dependency. These results suggest that the dependent on local environment resources may consider as the resource needs among elderly people.

Prediction of the Old-Age Dependency Ratio in Chinese Cities Using DMSP/OLS Nighttime Light Data

The old-age dependency ratio (ODR) is an important indicator reflecting the degree of a regional population’s aging. In the context of aging, this study provides a timely and effective method for predicting the ODR in Chinese cities. Using the provincial ODR from the Seventh National Population Census and Defense Meteorological Satellite Program/Operational Linescan System (DMSP/OLS) nighttime light data, this study aims to predict and analyze the spatial correlation of the municipal ODR in Chinese cities. First, the prediction model of the ODR was established with curve regression. Second, the spatial structure of the municipal ODR was investigated using the Moran’s I method. The experimental results show the following: (1) the correlation between the sum of the nighttime light and ODR is greater than the mean of nighttime light in the study areas; (2) the Sigmoid model fits better than other regression models using the provincial ODR in the past ten years; and (3) there exists an obvious spatial agglomeration and dependence on the municipal ODR. The findings indicate that it is reasonable to use nighttime light data to predict the municipal ODR in large and medium-sized cities. Our approach can provide support for future regional censuses and spatial simulations.