Comparison study: the impact of on-site comprehensive service access on self-reported health and functional status of older adults.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the impact of on-site comprehensive service access by comparing functional outcomes and self-rated health between 2 older adult samples.


METHODS
Data came from 131 randomly selected residents living independently in 2 retirement communities that provided on-site comprehensive service access and 1723 community-dwelling older adults from the second Longitudinal Study on Aging, Wave 3 (LSOA II), who did not have compatible services access. All subjects were age 70+, white, with intact cognitive function, and had 12 or more years of education. We applied regressed measures of functional status and self-rated health on on-site comprehensive service access (yes versus no) in multivariate models that adjusted for covariates.


RESULTS
After adjusting for covariates, results indicated that residents with access to on-site comprehensive service settings is significantly associated with less risk for activities of daily living (ADL) limitations (beta = -0.40, P < .001) and Nagi impairments (beta = -0.62, P <or= .001), and better self-rated health (OR = 4.3; 95% CI 2.03-9.15) than the comparison group.


CONCLUSIONS
On-site comprehensive service access appears to have positive association on functional outcomes and self-rated health. Future studies should explore specific components of on-site comprehensive service access (eg, home health, social activities) that may account for these desirable outcomes.
Young
Yuchi
Y
Department of Health Policy, Management and Behavior, State University of New York at Albany, One University Place, Rensselaer, NY 12144, USA. yyoung@albany.edu
Spokane
Linda S
LS
Shaw
Benjamin A
BA
Macera
Mark A
MA
Krout
John A
JA
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003191:Comprehensive Health Care; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009518:New York; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012112:Residential Facilities; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires