title: Health Status, Living Arrangements, and Service Use at 100: Findings From the Oporto Centenarian Study.
abstract: This paper describes the sociodemographic characteristics, health status, and service use of centenarians living in the community and centenarians residing in an elder care facility/nursing home and examines their main differences. Participants were 140 centenarians from the population-based Oporto Centenarian Study (Mage = 101.2; SD = 1.6). Main findings revealed that the majority of the centenarians lived at home with their family members (57.9%). Increased health care needs, living alone, and family caregiving constraints were the most common reasons for entering a nursing home. Community-dwelling centenarians were cared for mostly by their children and were less dependent and in better cognitive health than those who resided in a nursing home. Differences were found in the pattern of health service use according to the centenarians' residence, ability to pay medical expenses, and dependency level. Findings highlight the need for an accurate assessment of caregiving support systems, particularly family intergenerational duties, and of the factors constraining the access and use of health and social services. Policy makers may be guided by the insights gained from this research and work toward improvement of support options and removal of barriers to service access.
authors.affiliation: a Research and Education Unit on Aging, Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar (UNIFAI/ICBAS), and Center for Health Technology and Services Research (CINTESIS) , University of Porto , Porto , Portugal.|b Higher Institute of Social Service of Porto (ISSSP) , Porto , Portugal.|c University of Aveiro , Aveiro , Portugal.
authors.forename: Oscar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.affiliation: a Research and Education Unit on Aging, Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar (UNIFAI/ICBAS), and Center for Health Technology and Services Research (CINTESIS) , University of Porto , Porto , Portugal.|d Polytechnic Institute of Viseu , Viseu , Portugal.
authors.forename: Lia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Araújo
authors.affiliation: a Research and Education Unit on Aging, Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar (UNIFAI/ICBAS), and Center for Health Technology and Services Research (CINTESIS) , University of Porto , Porto , Portugal.
authors.forename: Laetitia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Teixeira
authors.affiliation: a Research and Education Unit on Aging, Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar (UNIFAI/ICBAS), and Center for Health Technology and Services Research (CINTESIS) , University of Porto , Porto , Portugal.
authors.forename: Natália
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Duarte
authors.affiliation: a Research and Education Unit on Aging, Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar (UNIFAI/ICBAS), and Center for Health Technology and Services Research (CINTESIS) , University of Porto , Porto , Portugal.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Brandão
authors.affiliation: a Research and Education Unit on Aging, Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar (UNIFAI/ICBAS), and Center for Health Technology and Services Research (CINTESIS) , University of Porto , Porto , Portugal.|c University of Aveiro , Aveiro , Portugal.
authors.forename: Ignacio
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: a Research and Education Unit on Aging, Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar (UNIFAI/ICBAS), and Center for Health Technology and Services Research (CINTESIS) , University of Porto , Porto , Portugal.
authors.forename: Constança
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Paúl
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006299:Health Services for the Aged / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006304:Health Status; D016852:Housing for the Elderly / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D057187:Independent Living; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011174:Portugal; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: Caregiving; centenarians; health status; service use