EconPapers    
Economics at your fingertips  
 

Disability during the last ten years of life: evidence from a register-based study in Austria

Erwin Stolz (), Anna Schultz (), Julia Zuschnegg (), Franziska Großschädl (), Thomas E. Dorner (), Regina Roller-Wirnsberger () and Wolfgang Freidl ()
Additional contact information
Erwin Stolz: Institute of Social Medicine and Epidemiology, Medical University of Graz
Anna Schultz: Institute of Social Medicine and Epidemiology, Medical University of Graz
Julia Zuschnegg: Institute of Social Medicine and Epidemiology, Medical University of Graz
Franziska Großschädl: Institute of Nursing Science, Medical University of Graz
Thomas E. Dorner: Academy for Ageing Research, Haus der Barmherzigkeit
Regina Roller-Wirnsberger: Medical University of Graz
Wolfgang Freidl: Institute of Social Medicine and Epidemiology, Medical University of Graz

European Journal of Ageing, 2024, vol. 21, issue 1, No 28, 13 pages

Abstract: Abstract Analyses of late-life disability based on survey data of the oldest old often suffer from non-representative samples due to selective participation and attrition. Here, we use register data on the Austrian long-term care allowance (ALTCA) as a proxy for late-life disability. In this retrospective mortality follow-back study, we analyze receipt of ALTCA, a universal cash benefit based on physician-assessed disability in activities of daily living during the last 10 years of life, among all decedents aged 65 years and over from 2020 in Austria (n = 76,781) and its association with sex, age at death, and underlying cause of death. We find that on average, ALTCA was received for 3.5 and 5.3 years in men and women. At 10 years before death, 10% of men and 25% of women received ALTCA, which increased to 56% and 77% at one year before death. Both the probability and duration of ALTCA increased with age at death and varied by cause of death: Those who died from cancer, myocardial infarction, and external causes of death were less likely to receive ALTCA and for shorter durations, while those who died from dementia, Parkinson’s disease, chronic heart disease, or chronic lung disease were more likely to receive it and longer so. Overall, our register-based estimates of the prevalence of late-life disability were higher than previous survey-based estimates. Policy-makers should be aware that costs of long-term care will rise as life expectancy rises and deaths from dementia and chronic heart disease will likely increase in the rapidly aging European societies.

Keywords: Long-term care; Last years of life; Age at death; Cause of death; End of life; Dementia; Parkinson’s disease; Cancer (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10433-024-00823-z Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:eujoag:v:21:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s10433-024-00823-z

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.springer ... iences/journal/10433

DOI: 10.1007/s10433-024-00823-z

Access Statistics for this article

European Journal of Ageing is currently edited by Marja Aartsen, Susanne Iwarsson and Prof. Dr. Matthias Kliegel

More articles in European Journal of Ageing from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().

 
Page updated 2025-03-20
Handle: RePEc:spr:eujoag:v:21:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s10433-024-00823-z