Difficulties with Activities of Daily Living and Receipt of Care Among Older Adults with Cognitive Impairment: Differences Between Those Living Alone and Those Living with Others

Article type: Short Communication

Authors: Yang, Yulin^{a; *} | Swinnerton, Kaitlin^a | Portacolone, Elena^b | Allen, Isabel Elaine^a | Torres, Jacqueline M.^a | Duchowny, Kate^a

Affiliations: [a] Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA | [b] Institute for Health & Aging, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA

Correspondence: [*] Correspondence to: Yulin Yang, PhD, 550 16th St., San Francisco, CA 94143, USA. E-mail: Yulin.Yang@ucsf.edu.

Abstract: We compared the prevalence of reporting difficulty with basic and instrumental activities of daily living without help received for persons with cognitive impairment living alone versus those living with others. We used data on 13,782 community-dwelling participants aged 55+ with cognitive impairment in the Health and Retirement Study (2000–2016). Models were stratified by gender and race/ethnicity. Among cognitively impaired older adults, those living alone were more likely to report difficulty without help received than those living with others. Results were similar by gender and race/ethnicity. Providers and policymakers might focus their efforts on ensuring the adequate provision of home and community-based services for older adults living alone with cognitive impairment.

Keywords: Aging in place, cognitive impairment, disability, living arrangement, racial/ethnic disparity

DOI: 10.3233/JAD-220172

Journal: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 89, no. 1, pp. 31-37, 2022