Pilar Zueras

Modelos de convivencia de las personas mayores en Cataluña. Impacto del deterioro de la salud en la independencia residencial

OBJECTIVES To identify the effect of health deterioration on residential dependency. MATERIAL AND METHODS We performed a cross-sectional analysis of the microdata from the Catalan Survey of Health (2006), which features a sample of 3566 individuals aged 65 and over. A set of socio-demographic (sex, age, marital status, educational level and municipality size), as well as health variables (self-rated health, BADL and IADL dependency) associated with residential dependency are analysed by bivariate and multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS Multivariate analysis shows that age, marital status and health are the variables that most affect living arrangements and cohabitation. Among men, being aged 80 or over (OR>4), being unmarried or widowed (OR=6.4) and having one or more IADL dependencies (OR>2.8) increases the risk of residential dependency. Whereas for women being aged 80 and over (OR>4), being unmarried (OR=6.8) or widowed (OR=11.8) and having three or more IADL dependencies (OR=2.7) is associated with residential dependency. Municipality size and the level of education (in the latter case only for men) are also significant determining factors (P<0.05). CONCLUSION Although health deterioration, and especially IADL dependency, affects residential dependency, its impact is lower than that of socio-demographic variables, such as marital status or age. What is more, health has a greater influence on men than women, who live independently until they experience great difficulty in coping with their activities of daily living. On the other hand, men seem to fall more easily into residential dependency once they experience any IADL dependency.

Evolución del perfil de los cuidadores de personas de 65 y más años con discapacidad en la persistencia de un modelo de cuidado familiar

INTRODUCTION The increasing participation of women in the workforce may make it difficult to sustain the current model of elderly care. The aim of this article was to determine the changing sociodemographic profile of informal elderly caregivers with disabilities, the interaction between employment and care, and the view of the public on the responsibility of that care. MATERIALS AND METHODS Cross-sectional analysis of secondary data from four national surveys were used: the disability surveys held in 1999 (N=3,936) and 2008 (N=5,257), the 2011-12 National Health Survey (N=439), and the Family and Gender survey of 2012 (N=1,359). They were analysed using contingency tables based on gender and age. RESULTS Half of the informal caregivers were women aged 45 to 64 years. Between 1999 and 2011-12 they became more concentrated in the 55-64 age-bracket, among whom participation in the workforce doubled from 20% to 40%. Increased care for men was associated with unemployment. Care work had a negative impact on working life, with greater impact among women and those who cared for elderly people with severe disabilities. Less likely to consider that elderly care provision should rest on family are 45-54 year-old economically active women (only 42%) or those who are more educated (40%), compared to 60% of economically inactive women and 55% of less educated women. CONCLUSIONS Economically active and educated women are less inclined to family-based care, but assume it independently of their workforce participation, whereas males do so according to their availability.

Mayores que viven solos: una panorámica a partir de los censos de 1991 y 2001 / Elderly Who Live Alone: An Overview Based on the 1991 and 2001 Censuses

espanolEl articulo analiza la evolucion de la vida en solitario de las personas de 65 a 84 anos no casadas y que no cohabitan en pareja entre 1991 y 2001 en siete paises europeos (Espana, Francia, Grecia, Hungria, Portugal, Rumania y Suiza). Para ello se utilizan microdatos censales procedentes de IPUMS (Integrated Public Use Microdata Series). Se examina el papel de cinco variables en la probabilidad de vivir solo frente a la de corresidir con otras personas y se investiga si la evolucion observada se debe a cambios en la composicion de la poblacion. Adoptamos la regresion logistica como tecnica de estandarizacion con los datos censales. Los resultados muestran que los patrones regionales observados permanecen cuando se controla por todas las variables y que se da un aumento generalizado de la vida en solitario en 2001 en todos los paises salvo en Rumania, donde hubiera disminuido de no ser por los cambios en la composicion de la poblacion. La estructura demografi ca (sexo, edad y estado civil) no modifi ca signifi cativamente las proporciones observadas a nivel temporal o regional. En contraste, las variaciones de estructura en cuanto a las variables socioeconomicas (nivel educativo y relacion con la actividad) son clave para la explicacion de una parte del cambio observado EnglishThis article analyses the development of single-person living arrangements amongst unmarried people aged between 65 and 84 years old who did not live with a partner between 1991 and 2001 in seven European countries (Spain, France, Greece, Hungary, Portugal, Romania and Switzerland). To do so, census micro data provided by IPUMS (Integrated Public Use Microdata Series) were used. The role of fi ve variables with regard to the probability of living alone versus living with others was examined. It was investigated whether the observed development was due to changes in the population composition. Logistic regression was used as a standardisation technique with the census data. Results showed that, after controlling for all the variables, the observed regional patterns remain the same, and that the proportion of elderly living alone increased in 2001 in all countries but Romania where, if the population composition had not changed, this proportion would have diminished. The demographic structure (by gender, age and marital status) did not signifi cantly modify the observed proportions either over time or at a regional level. In contrast, the variations of the structure regarding the socio-economic variables (educational level and employment status) were key to explain part of the observed change