Financial hardship in families of older adults with physical disability, dementia or both: a population based study of the dementia research group 10/66

• Published in: Alzheimer's & dementia Vol. 19; no. S19
• Main Authors: Márquez, Inés Hernández, Acosta‐Castillo, Gilberto Isaac, Ibarrola, Mariana Longoria, Sosa‐Ortiz, Ana Luisa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.12.2023
• ISSN: 1552-5260; 1552-5279
• DOI: 10.1002/alz.080510

Background The proportion of older people have consequences for labor and financial market. Older adults (OA) can consume economic resources that they cannot afford, total health care spending is three times greater in households with at least one OA with a disability, 70% of the costs of caring for someone with dementia are borne by families and reported emotional and financial hardships are twice as high for caregivers of this OA. This study focuses on the impact of physical and cognitive disabilities on the economic difficulties of the families. Method This was an observational, cross‐sectional study. It involved 2396 people aged 65 years and older, identified within the dementia research group protocols (DRG)10/66. Measures included the WHODAS 2.0 and the INDEP economic hardship study assessments. We performed descriptive statistics of the sociodemographic distribution and explored the association of physical disability, dementia, or both, with the presence of sociodemographic and economic variables with different types of supports for coping the “financial hardship” using bivariate tests and logistic regression models, odds ratios were estimated to assess the associations of interest. Result The distribution of disability with or without cognitive impairment was greater in women and cognitive impairment was greater in men (p = 0.010). When analyzing the distribution of the types of economic support, resorting to social assistance programs showed an association with the presence of cognitive impairment with disability odds ratio (OR) of 10.4 (95% confidence interval = 95%CI 1.3‐81.1) and without disability OR 8.0 (95%CI 1.1‐59.7) in the adjusted estimators (RR). Recourse to the work setting support was associated with the presence of disability in simple RR, OR 2.2(95%CI 1.2‐4.2) and adjusted OR 2.5(95%CI 1.3‐4.8). Support from friends or relatives was associated with the presence of disability and cognitive impairment also in simple RR OR 2.0 (95%CI 1.4‐3.0) and adjusted OR 2.1(95%CI 1.4‐3.3). Conclusion In older Mexican adults, cognitive impairment increases the use of social assistance programs, physical disability increases the use of savings or property, and the presence of cognitive impairment with physical disability increases the use of social assistance programs, support in the work setting and from friends or family.