Determining the prevalence of functional limitation and the factors affecting it among older adults in need of long-term care in Turkey

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to calculate the prevalence of the elderly (aged 60 years+) in Turkey who need long-term care for activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), and examine factors affecting functional limitation. Data were collected from the Turkey Health Survey conducted by TurkStat in 2019. The individuals’ dependency degree was measured using seven questions on ADLs and six on IADLs in the survey. The chi-squared test was used to compare the dependency levels of the older adults in terms of age groups, and logistic regression to identify factors related to disability. 23.98% of elderly people required long-term care (minimum six months) —11.82% experienced some difficulty (group 1) and 11.91% experienced great difficulty (group 2); 0.25% were completely dependent (group 3). The dependency level was higher for elderly, female, uninsured, and single people living in northeastern Anatolia. There was statistical significance between depression, Alzheimer's, recent hospitalizations, number of chronic diseases, and disability. The prevalence of functional disability is high in the elderly; one out of four elderly people needs long-term care. Additionally, the disability level increases with age and there is an effect of an individual's sociodemographic and health characteristics on disability.

Highlights

• One in four elderly people in Turkey need long-term care.

• Approximately 2.6–3.1 million elderly people need long-term care in 2021.

• It is estimated that this number will reach 4.9–5.9 million by 2040 and 6.7–8 million by 2060.

• Age, sex, marital status, and region affect the dependency level of the elderly.

KEYWORDS:

• Long-term care
• aged
• disability
• functional limitation
• activities of daily living
• instrumental activities of daily living

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Prof Heinz Rothgang and Prof Lorraine Frisina Doetter from SOCIUM (Research Center on Inequality and Social Policy) at Bremen University for scientific consultancy.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by TUBITAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey) under the International Post-doctoral Research Fellowship Programme. Data gained from Turkey Health Survey performed by TurkStat.

Notes on contributors

Özden Güdük

Özden Güdük is an assistant professor in the Health Science Faculty at Yuksek Ihtisas University in Ankara, Turkey. She has worked in hospitals and healthcare organizations in different positions for more than 20 years. Her interest topics are; home healthcare, health care insurance, quality and accreditation in health care, and long-term care.