Distal and Proximal Resource Influences on Economic Dependency among the Oldest Old

Abstract

tenarians were not more dependent than octogenarians. Cognitive ability had the strongest effects for medical care and caregiving services. 'Extraversion', 'ideas', 'neuroticism', and 'competence' personality factors had significant effects for caregiving types and total hours of care received. Conclusion: Monitoring and intervention to maintain cognitive ability are critical practices for autonomy and reduced economic dependency among the oldest old. Psychological resources are more important influences on social support than functional health and other proximal economic resources. Copyright © 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel Population trends associated with increased longevity world-wide include rapid growth in the oldest-old segment and the emergence of more centenarians as exceptional survivors [1] . Caring for the extreme survivors among the oldest old may create a substantial new burden on family and public support systems, so maintaining Key WordsOldest old ؒ Economic dependency ؒ Cognition ؒ Personality Abstract Background: As exceptional survivors, centenarians may have characteristics that reduce their dependency on family and community support systems despite the expectation that their extreme age creates a burden on those systems. The Georgia Centenarian Study obtained information about assistance for income, medical care, and caregiving of all types for a sample of centenarians and octogenarians. Previous studies have not established which characteristics may contribute to economic dependency among the oldest old. Objective: To identify distal and proximal resource influences on economic dependency, considering past lifestyle, proximal health, economic resources, personality, and coping behavior. Methods: Analysis sample sizes ranged from 109 to 138 octogenarians and centenarians. Blockwise multiple regressions predicted whether they received income assistance, number of medical care events, number of caregiving types, and total caregiving hours. Results: Past life style, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, functional health, and coping were not related to economic dependency. With the exception of the number of types of care, cen-

Understanding Perceptions of Economic Status among Centenarians

“…More specifically, in accordance with Rautio et al (2001), those centenarians indicating that they could not meet their expenses had the highest rate of errors on the SPMSQ. Perceptions of how well money took care of needs were inversely related to ability to perform activities of daily living was consistent with other studies as well (e.g., MacDonald et al, 2010;Poon et al, 2010;Rautio et al, 2001). Finding that having a better perception of economic circumstances was related to being less depressed was in line with Chou and Chi (2002).…”

“…Johnson (2004) identified financial strain and the rising cost of food as impacting the health of the oldest old via their ability to access healthy food. Several studies have linked socio-economic factors with physical and mental capacity among older adults (e.g., MacDonald et al, 2010;Poon et al, 2010;Rautio et al, 2001). Similarly, Chou and Chi (2002) found that both financial strain and self-rated health were linked with depression, while Rautio et al (2001) identified a positive association between one's perceived financial situation and functional capacity.…”

Editorial

“…Economic dependency is addressed using as outcomes proxy reports on participants' income assistance, number of medical care events, number of care-giving types and total care-giving hours [15] . Thus, again both proximal care and distal variables are considered as contributors to the economic dependency of very old adults.…”

Utilization of care services among the oldest old

“…MacDonald, Aneja, Martin, Margrett, and Poon (2010) found in their study of Georgia octogenarians and centenarians that increasing age, decreasing cognitive status, decreasing extraversion, and a high level of openness to ideas predicted higher usage of caregiving services. This indicates that at least certain groups of older adults are using care services, but there may be some problems with current care services.…”

“…A study of Georgia octogenarians and centenarians and near centenarians (MacDonald et al, 2010) found that living in a nursing home, having lower cognitive status, being more neurotic, and having higher competence were all predictors of caregiving hours.…”