Health-care and home-care utilization among frail elderly persons in Belgium
| Autor: | Sarah Hoeck, Johan Van der Heyden, Joanna Geerts, Guido Van Hal, Guido François, Maurits Vandewoude |
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| Rok vydání: | 2011 |
| Předmět: |
Gerontology
Male Frail Elderly Health Status Comorbidity Interviews as Topic Age Distribution Belgium Residence Characteristics Health care Prevalence Medicine Humans Frail elderly Geriatric Assessment Aged Aged 80 and over business.industry Confounding Public Health Environmental and Occupational Health Emergency department Health Services medicine.disease Home nursing Home Care Services Hospitalization Cross-Sectional Studies Socioeconomic Factors Health Care Surveys Population Surveillance Hospital admission Residence Female Human medicine Self Report business Delivery of Health Care |
| Zdroj: | European journal of public health |
| ISSN: | 1464-360X 1101-1262 |
| Popis: | Background: The patterns of health- and home-care utilization among Belgian frail elderly persons living at home with varying socio-economic status are currently unknown. Methods: In this cross-sectional study based on a representative sample of 4777 elderly participants (epsilon 65 years) in the Belgian Health Interview Survey the prevalence of frailty, as determined by items referring to the Fried phenotype, was estimated according to age, gender, comorbidity, place of residence, survey year, living situation and socio-economic status. Differing health-care utilization [contacts with a general practitioner (GP), specialist and emergency department; and hospital admission) and home-care utilization (home nursing, home help and meals-on-wheels] patterns among the frail, prefrail and robust subpopulations were examined. Results: Overall, 9.3% respondents (426) were classified as frail, 30.7% (1636) as prefrail and 60.0% (2715) as robust. Frailty was associated with age, gender, comorbidity, region, survey year and socio-economic status. The frail and prefrail groups were more likely than the robust to contact a GP, a specialist or an emergency department and were more likely to be admitted to hospital, independent of age, gender, comorbidity, survey year, living situation, region and socio-economic status. They were also more likely to appeal to home nursing, home help and meals-on-wheels than the robust participants. Conclusion: Even after adjustment for potential confounders, including age, gender and comorbidity, frailty among Belgian elderly persons is associated with their socio-economic status and is strongly associated with their health- and home-care utilization. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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