Demands for Telenursing-Based Long-Term Care Among Disabled Older Adults in Qingdao, China: A Cross-Sectional Study

Figures & data

Table 1 Demographic Characteristics of the Participants (n=213)

Variable	n (%)
Gender
Male	100 (46.95)
Female	113 (53.05)
Age (years)
60~69	91 (42.72)
70~79	87 (40.85)
≥80	35 (16.43)
Educational level
Primary school	28 (13.15)
Middle school and technical secondary school	122 (57.28)
High school and junior college	44 (20.66)
Undergraduate degree or higher	19 (8.92)
Informal caregiver
Spouse	85 (39.91)
Nanny	23 (10.80)
Children	87 (40.85)
No caregiver	6 (2.82)
Others	12 (5.63)
Chronic disease status
≤ 1	44 (20.66)
2	69 (32.39)
3	57 (26.76)
4	18 (8.45)
≥5	25 (11.74)
Average family income (yuan)
<1000	8 (3.76)
1000–2000	19 (8.92)
2001–3000	63 (29.58)
3001–4000	74 (34.74)
>4000	49 (23.00)
Acceptable monthly nursing expenses (yuan)
<100	27 (12.68)
100–400	55 (25.82)
401–700	77 (36.15)
701–1000	24 (11.27)
>1000	30 (14.08)
Impact of the government policy on service selection
Not at all	7 (3.29)
Not	31 (14.55)
Commonly	69 (32.39)
Partial impact	72 (33.80)
Certain impact	34 (15.96)
Level of disability^a
Level 3	151 (70.89)
Level 4	44 (20.66)
Level 5	18 (8.45)
Self-assessment of health status
Very poor	13 (6.10)
Poor	63 (29.58)
Commonly	119 (55.87)
Well	18 (8.45)

Notes: ^aThe level of disability was evaluated through 22 items that were divided into four aspects: activities of daily living (10 items), mental status (3 items), sensory and communication (4 items), and social involvement (5 items). Each aspect is evaluated int levels 0 to 3 according to the relative item score. The level 3 disability means that activities of daily living are at level 2 and that the level is below 2 for any one of the following: mental status, sensory and communication, and social involvement. The level 4 disability means that activities of daily living are at level 2 and that mental status, sensory and communication, and social involvement are all level 2 or any one of them is level 3; alternatively, activities of daily living are at level 3, and the scores for activities of daily living are 25–40 points, with the level of any one of the remaining three aspects being 2 or less. The level 5 disability means that activities of daily living are at level 3 and that the scores for activities of daily living are 25–40 points; the levels of the remaining three aspects are all 2, or any one of them is level 3; activities of daily living are at level 3, and the scores for activities of daily living are 0–20 points; or the adult is in a coma or has a diagnosis of severe dementia.

Table 2 The Scores and Rankings for the Needs of Disabled Older Adults for Telenursing-Based Long-Term Care (n=213)

Item	Mean±SD	Sequence
“Internet +” spiritual consolation	3.15±0.78	6^a
Intelligent monitoring	3.64±0.89	4
Visual call	3.16±0.74	17
Online psychological counseling	3.13±0.75	19
Online palliative care	2.95±0.68	25
Virtual entertainment	2.89±0.60	26
“Internet +” health consultation	3.23±0.75	4^a
Remote guidance on home safety prevention	3.45±0.75	7
Remote guidance in self-help	3.34±0.86	9
Teletraining on care skills	3.32±0.75	11
Remote consultation on the policy of long-term care insurance	3.09±0.63	20
Remote consultation with assistive devices	2.96±0.62	23
“Internet +” rehabilitation training	3.17±0.72	5^a
Remote education in rehabilitation videos	3.27±0.73	14
Remote supervision of rehabilitation	3.26±0.76	15
Rehabilitation in the virtual environment	2.98±0.63	21
“Internet +” medical care	3.43±0.78	2^a
Telereferral	3.64±0.65	4
Telenursing consultation	3.57±0.71	6
Remote monitoring of vital signs	3.31±0.81	12
Online appointment	3.20±0.85	16
“Internet +” traditional Chinese medicine nursing	3.32±0.70	3^a
Remote consultation with traditional Chinese medicine nursing	3.35±0.72	8
Remote supervision with traditional Chinese medicine nursing	3.33±0.69	10
Remote education via traditional Chinese medicine nursing	3.28±0.70	13
“Internet +” daily care	2.97±0.72	7^a
Remote medication reminder	3.14±0.77	18
Online food delivery	2.98±0.77	21
Remote dietary guidance	2.96±0.72	23
Online reminder of important days	2.82±0.59	27
“Internet +” information management and first aid	3.77±0.71	1^a
Remote one-button emergency caller	3.83±0.69	1
Family management account	3.76±0.79	2
Emergency card (scan QR code to obtain basic information)	3.74±0.63	3

Notes: ^aIs the sorting of mean scores for demands in the different dimensions. (The demands for each item are evaluated on a 5-point scale of importance, where 1 stands for “extremely disagree” and 5 stands for “extremely agree”).

Table 3 Single-Factor Analysis of the Demands for Telenursing-Based Long-Term Care for Disabled Older Adults (n=213)

Variable	Mean±SD	t/F/χ^2	P
Gender
Male	88.99±9.07	0.937^a	0.350
Female	87.77±9.83
Age (years)
60~69	88.11±8.66	5.637^b	0.004
70~79	86.74±8.79
≥80	92.94±9.52
Educational level
Primary school	90.25±9.10	3.774^b	0.011
Middle school and technical secondary school	88.85±9.58
High school and junior college	88.59±8.17
Undergraduate degree or higher	81.68±10.19
Informal caregiver
Spouse	91.19±7.15	11.570^c	0.021
Nanny	87.74±10.19
Children	85.99±10.37
No caregiver	90.17±4.31
Others	85.50±12.87
Chronic disease status
≤ 1	88.36±6.29	9.766^c	0.045
2	90.83±6.83
3	86.60±12.32
4	84.56±10.95
≥5	88.16±10.73
Average family income (yuan)
<1000	86.13±8.01	35.652^c	<0.001
1000–2000	88.37±9.92
2001–3000	82.27±10.78
3001–4000	91.84±6.74
>4000	91.22±7.27
Acceptable monthly nursing expenses (yuan)
<100	88.70±8.69	2.699^b	0.032
100–400	86.60±9.19
401–700	89.53±10.15
701–1000	84.33±9.89
>1000	91.37±7.19
Impact of the government policy on service selection
Not at all	92.14±8.26	0.929^b	0.448
Not	89.39±9.36
Commonly	89.26±8.02
Partial impact	87.18±10.61
Certain impact	87.21±10.02
Level of disability
Level 3	87.94±9.34	4.015^b	0.019
Level 4	91.34±8.92
Level 5	84.39±10.39
Self-assessment of health status
Very poor	88.38±9.54	1.844^b	0.140
Poor	90.16±8.66
Commonly	87.96±9.69
Well	84.50±10.11

Notes: ^at; ^bF; ^cχ².

Table 4 Multiple Linear Regression Analysis of the Factors Influencing the Needs for Telenursing-Based Long-Term Care (n=213)

Independent Variable	β	SE	β’	t	P
Constant	80.866	4.799	–	16.852	<0.001
Age	2.564	0.870	0.196	2.947	0.004
Educational level	−2.389	0.791	−0.201	−3.021	0.003
Average family income	2.384	0.668	0.264	3.567	<0.001

Notes: R²=0.229, F=4.555, P<0.001.