Multidimensional Disability Evaluation and Confirmatory Analysis of Older Adults in a Home-Based Community in China

Abstract

A robust multi-dimensional disability assessment standard was constructed to consider physical condition, care resources, and social interaction that might lead to disability, to provide a basis for accurate identification of care needs for older people aged 60 and above in a home-based community. Based on the “Capability approach” theory, the Alkire-Foster method was applied to assess the multidimensional disability. This was followed by the confirmatory analysis of the Seemingly Unrelated Regression Estimation. Adjusted Bourguignon and Chakravarty index was also calculated to analyze the sensitivity to further support our conclusions. We constructed a multi-dimensional disability indicator system by combining physical condition, care resources, and social interaction. Findings presented that the impairment of individuals' motor ability, ability to manage disease, cognitive psychology, and communication skills and social interaction contributed to multidimensional disability the most. And older people who are female, aged over 65, with lower BMI, living in rural areas, with a lower education level, getting more formal care, and with relatively higher creatinine, tend to face a higher risk of deprivation in overall multidimensional disability. Therefore, the targeted interventions to improve health literacy, nutrition, skill of disease management, social networks, and communication skills for older people and also timely detection of the abnormal changes in potential biomarker indicators of them is necessary to delay disability and prevent its occurrence.