Living Alone and Outpatient Care Use by Older Veterans

Abstract

In nonveteran older adults, living alone influences outpatient care use, but its importance in the veteran population has not been well studied. The aims of this study are to describe the use of outpatient care by older veterans who live alone versus those who live with others and determine whether living alone influences outpatient use by older veterans. The data come from the 2001 Veteran Identity Program Survey designed to measure Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and non-VA outpatient care use. Univariate and bivariate analyses were conducted to examine distributional properties, associations, and subgroup differences in outpatient care use. Poisson regression was used to assess the role of living alone on outpatient care use, controlling for predisposing, other enabling, and need factors. Results found that older veterans who use the VA, whether they live alone or not, have similar numbers of VA outpatient visits. Older veterans who use VA and non-VA facilities and who live alone have greater total outpatient visits than those who live with others. Regression results indicate that living alone is a predictor of VA routine medical visits, VA prescription refill visits, and total VA and non-VA outpatient visits but does not influence VA emergency room visits. These findings suggest that living alone is associated with differences in outpatient care use by older veterans. It is important for the VA to understand this relationship with the aim of developing interventions to improve access, effectiveness, and efficiency of health services for older veterans.

Health Status and Health Facility Utilization of Community-Dwelling Elderly Living Alone in the Philippines: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study

“…This result is in contrast from a previous systematic review revealing that elderly who have social support were more likely to visit a physician than those without any or less social support [34]. However, the finding of the present study was consistent with studies in the United States of America, which identified that elderly living alone were more likely to visit an out-patient unit and emergency department for advice or treatment [24] [25]. An elderly experiencing any form of sickness will opt to live with family members rather than be alone in order to better cope with serious illnesses and receive instrumental social support, informal care giving assistance, and use available resources at home from their household members [40].…”

“…Many studies have shown that an elderly living alone was at a higher risk of becoming ill, having difficulty with instrumental activities of daily living, worsening mobility, and suffering from depression [22] [23]. Furthermore, evidences from developed countries indicated that those living alone or having weak social relationships showed higher likelihood of health facility utilization [24] [25] [26].…”

Configuration of services used by depressed older adults

“…Those living alone were over represented in the multiple formal configuration. Studies have revealed the association between living alone and heavier outpatient care use in relation to lack of care at home (Guzman, Sohn, & Harada, 2004). In our sample, those in the multiple formal configuration used more psychosocial services including meal, socialization, and transportation services than others.…”

Differences in Benzodiazepine Receptor Agonist Use in Rural and Urban Older Adults

“…Predictors were chosen a priori based on a comprehensive review of the literature to identify potential confounders that may influence benzodiazepine use, including sociodemographic characteristics (i.e., age, education, gender, race, and marital status), history of anxiety/depression, and total number of medications [ 18 – 21 ].…”