IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0053879.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Associations and Impact Factors between Living Arrangements and Functional Disability among Older Chinese Adults

Author

Listed:
  • Hui Wang
  • Kun Chen
  • Yifeng Pan
  • Fangyuan Jing
  • He Liu

Abstract

Objectives: To examine the association of living arrangements with functional disability among older persons and explore the mediation of impact factors on the relationship. Design: Cross-sectional analysis using data from Healthy Aging study in Zhejiang Province. Participants: Analyzed sample was drawn from a representative rural population of older persons in Wuyi County, Zhejiang Province, including 1542 participants aged 60 and over in the second wave of the study. Measurements: Living arrangements, background, functional disability, self-rated health, number of diseases, along with contemporaneous circumstances including income, social support (physical assistance and emotional support). Instrument was Activities of Daily Living (ADL) scale, including Basic Activities Daily Living (BADL) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL). Results: Living arrangements were significantly associated with BADL, IADL and ADL disability. Married persons living with or without children were more advantaged on all three dimensions of functional disability. Unmarried older adults living with children only had the worst functional status, even after controlling for background, social support, income and health status variables (compared with the unmarried living alone, ß for BADL: −1.262, ß for IADL: −2.112, ß for ADL: −3.388; compared with the married living with children only, ß for BADL: −1.166, ß for IADL: −2.723, ß for ADL: −3.902). In addition, older adults without difficulty in receiving emotional support, in excellent health and with advanced age had significantly better BADL, IADL and ADL function. However, a statistically significant association between physical assistance and functional disability was not found. Conclusion: Functional disabilities vary by living arrangements with different patterns and other factors. Our results highlight the association of unmarried elders living with children only and functioning decline comparing with other types. Our study implies policy makers should pay closer attention to unmarried elders living with children in community. Community service especially emotional support such as psychological counseling is important social support and should be improved.

Suggested Citation

  • Hui Wang & Kun Chen & Yifeng Pan & Fangyuan Jing & He Liu, 2013. "Associations and Impact Factors between Living Arrangements and Functional Disability among Older Chinese Adults," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(1), pages 1-7, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0053879
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0053879
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0053879
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0053879&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0053879?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Macran, Susan & Clarke, Lynda & Joshi, Heather, 1996. "Women's health: Dimensions and differentials," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 42(9), pages 1203-1216, May.
    2. Verbrugge, Lois M. & Jette, Alan M., 1994. "The disablement process," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 1-14, January.
    3. Beydoun, May A. & Popkin, Barry M., 2005. "The impact of socio-economic factors on functional status decline among community-dwelling older adults in China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 60(9), pages 2045-2057, May.
    4. Umberson, Debra, 1992. "Gender, marital status and the social control of health behavior," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 34(8), pages 907-917, April.
    5. Denton, Margaret & Walters, Vivienne, 1999. "Gender differences in structural and behavioral determinants of health: an analysis of the social production of health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 48(9), pages 1221-1235, May.
    6. Davis, M.A. & Moritz, D.J. & Neuhaus, J.M. & Barclay, J.D. & Gee, L., 1997. "Living arrangements, changes in living arrangements, and survival among community dwelling older adults," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 87(3), pages 371-377.
    7. Li, Lydia W. & Zhang, Jiaan & Liang, Jersey, 2009. "Health among the oldest-old in China: Which living arrangements make a difference?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 220-227, January.
    8. Miles G. Taylor & Scott M. Lynch, 2004. "Trajectories of Impairment, Social Support, and Depressive Symptoms in Later Life," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 59(4), pages 238-246.
    9. Lund, Rikke & Due, Pernille & Modvig, Jens & Holstein, Bjørn Evald & Damsgaard, Mogens Trab & Andersen, Per Kragh, 2002. "Cohabitation and marital status as predictors of mortality--an eight year follow-up study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 55(4), pages 673-679, August.
    10. David Russell & John Taylor, 2009. "Living Alone and Depressive Symptoms: The Influence of Gender, Physical Disability, and Social Support Among Hispanic and Non-Hispanic Older Adults," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 64(1), pages 95-104.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Chi-Tsun Chiu, 2019. "Living arrangements and disability-free life expectancy in the United States," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(2), pages 1-16, February.
    2. Wei Chen & Ya Fang & Fanzhen Mao & Shichao Hao & Junze Chen & Manqiong Yuan & Yaofeng Han & Y Alicia Hong, 2015. "Assessment of Disability among the Elderly in Xiamen of China: A Representative Sample Survey of 14,292 Older Adults," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(6), pages 1-12, June.
    3. Natalia Wołoszyn & Joanna Grzegorczyk & Agnieszka Wiśniowska-Szurlej & Justyna Kilian & Andrzej Kwolek, 2020. "Psychophysical Health Factors and Its Correlations in Elderly Wheelchair Users Who Live in Nursing Homes," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-16, March.
    4. Liangwen Zhang & Yanbing Zeng & Ya Fang, 2017. "The effect of health status and living arrangements on long term care models among older Chinese: A cross-sectional study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(9), pages 1-15, September.
    5. Pawinee Iamtrakul & Sararad Chayphong, 2022. "Exploring the Influencing Factors on Living Alone and Social Isolation among Older Adults in Rural Areas of Thailand," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-18, November.
    6. Chia-Mei Shih & Yu-Hua Wang & Li-Fan Liu & Jung-Hua Wu, 2020. "Profile of Long-Term Care Recipients Receiving Home and Community-Based Services and the Factors That Influence Utilization in Taiwan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-15, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Maruyama, Shiko, 2015. "The effect of coresidence on parental health in Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 1-22.
    2. Shiko Maruyama, 2012. "Inter Vivos Health Transfers: Final Days of Japanese Elderly Parents," Discussion Papers 2012-20, School of Economics, The University of New South Wales.
    3. Zachary Zimmer & Linda Martin & Daniel Nagin & Bobby Jones, 2012. "Modeling Disability Trajectories and Mortality of the Oldest-Old in China," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 49(1), pages 291-314, February.
    4. Turner, Alex J. & Nikolova, Silviya & Sutton, Matt, 2016. "The effect of living alone on the costs and benefits of surgery amongst older people," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 95-103.
    5. Min Gao & Yanyu Li & Shengfa Zhang & Linni Gu & Jinsui Zhang & Zhuojun Li & Weijun Zhang & Donghua Tian, 2017. "Does an Empty Nest Affect Elders’ Health? Empirical Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-20, April.
    6. Moisés H. Sandoval & Marcela E. Alvear Portaccio, 2022. "Marital Status, Living Arrangements and Mortality at Older Ages in Chile, 2004–2016," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-15, October.
    7. Angelique Chan & Prassanna Raman & Stefan Ma & Rahul Malhotra, 2015. "Loneliness and all-cause mortality in community-dwelling elderly Singaporeans," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 32(49), pages 1361-1382.
    8. Freda Yanrong Wang, 2022. "Causal Inference Between the Health Status and Living Arrangements of Elderly People in China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 159(3), pages 1155-1178, February.
    9. Chi-Tsun Chiu, 2019. "Living arrangements and disability-free life expectancy in the United States," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(2), pages 1-16, February.
    10. Feng, Zhixin & Jones, Kelvyn & Wang, Wenfei Winnie, 2015. "An exploratory discrete-time multilevel analysis of the effect of social support on the survival of elderly people in China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 181-189.
    11. Chun, Heeran & Khang, Young-Ho & Kim, Il-Ho & Cho, Sung-Il, 2008. "Explaining gender differences in ill-health in South Korea: The roles of socio-structural, psychosocial, and behavioral factors," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(6), pages 988-1001, September.
    12. Jolidon, Vladimir, 2022. "Gender inequality and mammography screening: Does living with a partner improve women's mammography uptake?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).
    13. Wilson, Sven E., 2012. "Marriage, gender and obesity in later life," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 10(4), pages 431-453.
    14. Mathias Voigt & Antonio Abellán & Julio Pérez & Diego Ramiro, 2020. "The effects of socioeconomic conditions on old-age mortality within shared disability pathways," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(9), pages 1-17, September.
    15. Jiaan Zhang & Liyun Wu, 2015. "Cigarette Smoking and Alcohol Consumption among Chinese Older Adults: Do Living Arrangements Matter?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-26, February.
    16. Azam Tariq & Tian Beihai & Nadeem Abbas & Sajjad Ali & Wang Yao & Muhammad Imran, 2020. "Role of Perceived Social Support on the Association between Physical Disability and Symptoms of Depression in Senior Citizens of Pakistan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-14, February.
    17. James Raymo, 2015. "Living alone in Japan: Relationships with happiness and health," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 32(46), pages 1267-1298.
    18. Danan Gu & Yi Zeng, 2004. "Sociodemographic Effects on the Onset and Recovery of ADL Disability among Chinese Oldest-old," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 11(1), pages 1-42.
    19. Feinian Chen & Hui Liu & Kriti Vikram & Yu Guo, 2015. "For Better or Worse: The Health Implications of Marriage Separation Due to Migration in Rural China," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 52(4), pages 1321-1343, August.
    20. Riina Peltonen & Jessica Y. Ho & Irma T. Elo & Pekka Martikainen, 2017. "Contribution of smoking-attributable mortality to life-expectancy differences by marital status among Finnish men and women, 1971-2010," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 36(8), pages 255-280.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0053879. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.