Clases latentes de dependencia en Uruguay

This study seeks to characterize the dependent population in Uruguay, either due to aging or disability, through the construction of dependency profiles. A latent class model is implemented to synthesize the information from multiple questions associated with the need for help in activities of daily living based on the Longitudinal Survey of Social Protection. Four classes of dependency were obtained both among people over 59 and people with disabilities under 60. In the two populations there is a group of people without dependency; another group of people who require help in a wide range of activities, always including the basic ones (eating, using the bathroom, dressing, walking, getting out of bed); and an intermediate group that is characterized by needing help in various instrumental activities and who may require support in some basic activity, but not in eating. The other two groups are different between older people and people with disabilities. In the case of the elderly, the fourth group only requires help in carrying out household chores and in moving outside the home, made up exclusively of women. In people with disabilities, a group is distinguished that is handicapped by a more psychological than physical component, which presents higher levels of need for help in communicating, socializing and avoiding risks. This type of groupings contributes to the design of policies since it is probable that the type of care and assistance required by people in a situation of dependency is related to the categories resulting from the latent classes model in a way that complements the indices that assign degrees of severity to said dependence.