Household income and other socio-economic determinants of long-term institutional care among older adults in Finland

Abstract

An analysis of longitudinal data on Finnish older adults shows that the probability of admission to long-term institutional care is inversely associated with household income: women in the lowest income quintile are 35 per cent more likely, and men in the lowest quintile 59 per cent more likely to be admitted than those in the highest quintile, independently of age, first language, and area characteristics. Controlling for other socio-demographic characteristics and medical conditions reduces these differences by 59 and 78 per cent, respectively. Being a renter and living in poorly equipped housing increases the probability of admission to institutional care, while the possession of a car and living in a detached house decreases it, independently of other factors. These results imply that the future need for institutional care will depend not only on the increasing numbers of older people but also on socio-economic factors and housing conditions.

Dementia as a determinant of social and health service use in the last two years of life 1996-2003

“…These results confirm earlier findings e.g. [19,40,41]. However, it is not clear whether the effect of age and gender on the use of all services is similar among people with and without dementia.…”

Why is housing tenure associated with a lower risk of admission to a nursing or residential home? Wealth, health and the incentive to keep ‘my home’

“…Socioeconomic status is also important,3 and a range of papers have shown that risk of admission is lower for those who own rather than rent their accommodation 1 3–5. There are several possible explanations for the association.…”

Health Among the Elderly in Germany. New Evidence on Disease, Disability and Care Need

“…The findings on the later are, however, contradictory. A number of studies show an inverse relationship between income and entry into nursing homes (Nihtilä and Martikainen 2007;Himes et al 2000), while other studies do not illustrate any significant association (Tomiak et al 2000;Greene and Ondrich 1990).…”

“…Previous research has generated a number of controversial findings regarding the impact of education on the use of care, but it uses the risk of institutionalization as the proxy rather than receipt of SLTC benefits which is considered in this paper. Some studies demonstrate that it is associated with the risk of the transition to care (Nihtilä 2005;Mustard et al 1999), while others show no effect at all (Greene and Ondrich 1990;Wolinsky et al 1992;Kempen and Suurmeijer 1991;Cai et al 2009), or that there is only an effect for men (Nihtilä and Martikainen 2007) or for women (Tomiak et al 2000).…”