Older adults with disability in extreme poverty in Peru: How is their access to health care?

How economic development affects healthcare access for people with disabilities: A multilevel study in China

Meeting the healthcare needs of people with disabilities is an important challenge in achieving the central promise of "leave no one behind" during the Sustainable Development Goals era. In this study, we describe the accessibility of healthcare for people living with disabilities, as well as the potential influences of individuals' socioeconomic status and regional economic development. Our data covered 324 prefectural cities in China in 2019 and captured the access to healthcare services for people with disabilities. First, we used linear probability regression models to investigate the association between individual socioeconomic status, including residence, poverty status, education, and healthcare access. Second, we conducted an ecological analysis to test the association between prefectural economic indicators, including GDP (gross domestic product) per capita, urbanization ratio, average years of education, Engel's coefficient, and the overall prevalence of access to healthcare for people with disabilities within prefectures. Third, we used multilevel regression models to explore the association between the individual's socio-economic status, prefectural economic indicators, and access to healthcare at the individual level for people with disabilities. The results showed, first, that higher individual socioeconomic status (urban residence or higher educational level) was associated with better access to healthcare for people with disabilities. Second, regional economic indicators were positively associated with access to healthcare at the aggregate and individual levels. This study suggests that local governments, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, should promote economic development and conduct poverty alleviation policies to improve healthcare access for disadvantaged groups.

The Impact of Long-Term Care Needs on the Socioeconomic Deprivation of Older People and Their Families: Results from Mixed-Methods Scoping Review

BACKGROUND

Long-term care (LTC), poverty, and socioeconomic deprivation are globally significant social issues. Ongoing population aging trends and the recent social and health emergencies caused by the COVID-19 pandemic crisis have highlighted the need for macro-level LTC and welfare system sustainability strategies.

AIMS

This scoping review (ScR) explores the relationship between LTC needs, the health status of older people, and the risk of socioeconomic deprivation for their households.

METHODS

The methodology considers different relevant sources: (a) the guidelines for ScR proposed by Lockwood et al.; (b) the recommendations of Munn et al.; (c) the PRISMA guideline for scoping reviews; and (d) the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) checklist. Sixty-three papers are included in the mixed-methods analysis.

RESULTS

The findings reveal the existence of a debate that seeks to understand the different characteristics of the relationship between the investigated issues. Relevant gaps in the literature are identified in terms of the concepts and approaches of the studies analyzed.

CONCLUSIONS

The results indicate that the reciprocal relationship between LTC needs, supply, and the risk of socioeconomic deprivation is understudied. Future studies should focus on the causal relationship between the two phenomena and identify any internal factors that may be involved.

Factors Influencing Access to Health Services among Chronically Ill Older Adults with Physical Disabilities in the Era of the COVID-19 Outbreak

Chronically ill older adults with physical disabilities frequently face difficulties in their daily lives and require essential health service access, especially in the COVID-19 context. This study aimed to examine the association between social support, perception of benefits due to disability and access to health services among chronically ill older adults with physical disabilities during this crisis in Thailand. A total of 276 chronically ill older adults with physical disabilities were included in this cross-sectional study. Self-reported questionnaires were assessed through multi-stage random sampling. Correlations between the independent variables and health service access were examined using multiple regression analysis. Of the respondents, 159 were female (59.6%). Most participants perceived benefits (58.8%) and access to health services (56.2%) at good levels, while social support was at a moderate level (47.9%). Stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that social support (β = 0.351), perception of benefits (β = 0.257) and age (β = 0.167) were positively correlated with health service access. The findings are relevant for health care providers and multi-professional teams, who should enhance older adults' social support and perception of benefits to improve their access to health services, particularly among chronically ill older adults with physical disabilities, in the era of COVID-19.

Cognitive Frailty as a Predictor of Mortality in Older Adults: A Longitudinal Study in Peru

Objective

To evaluate the role of cognitive frailty and its components as risk factors of mortality in older adults of the Centro Médico Naval (CEMENA) in Callao, Peru during 2010-2015.

Methods

We performed a secondary analysis of data from a prospective cohort that included older adults (60 years and older) treated at the CEMENA Geriatrics service between 2010–2015. Frailty was defined as the presence of three or more criteria of the modified Fried Phenotype. Cognitive impairment was assessed using the Peruvian version of the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), considering a score <21 as cognitive impairment. Cognitive frailty was defined as the coexistence of both. In addition, we included sociodemographic characteristics, medical and personal history, as well as the functional evaluation of each participant.

Results

We included 1,390 older adults (mean follow-up: 2.2 years), with a mean age of 78.5 ± 8.6 years and 59.6% (n = 828) were male. Cognitive frailty was identified in 11.3% (n = 157) and 9.9% (n = 138) died during follow-up. We found that cognitive frailty in older adults (aHR = 3.57; 95%CI: 2.33–5.49), as well as its components, such as sedentary behavior and cognitive impairment (aHR = 7.05; 95%CI: 4.46–11.13), weakness and cognitive impairment (aHR = 6.99; 95%CI: 4.41–11.06), and exhaustion and cognitive impairment (aHR = 4.51; 95%CI: 3.11–6.54) were associated with a higher risk of mortality.

Conclusion

Cognitive frailty and its components were associated with a higher risk of mortality in older adults. It is necessary to develop longitudinal studies with a longer follow-up and that allow evaluating the effect of interventions in this vulnerable group of patients to limit adverse health outcomes, including increased mortality.

Resident perception on the impact of point-of-care ultrasound in clinical care at a family medicine training program in Zambia

Background

Patient access to necessary medical imaging in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) remains a major obstacle, complicating clinician decision-making and compromising patient outcomes.

Methods

We implemented a longitudinal point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) training program at a new Family Medicine residency in Zambia and subsequently evaluated residents’ perceptions on the impact of POCUS in patient care. Data were documented by the scanning resident via a post-scan survey, which assessed if/how the scan assisted in medical management, and if/how the scan changed that management. The primary endpoint was frequency of scans assisting and changing management. Data were summarized using descriptive statistics.

Results

Over the 1-year study period, 366 patient encounters occurred in which POCUS was utilized, resulting in a total of 542 unique POCUS scans. POCUS assisted in decision-making in 95.6% (350/366) of patient encounters, most commonly by helping to determine a diagnosis. POCUS changed management in 65.8% (235/357) of patient encounters, most commonly leading to a medication change.

Conclusions

Zambian resident physicians perceived POCUS to be very helpful in their clinical decision-making. These data support the need to advance POCUS education at the residency level throughout LMICs, which may be an ideal strategy to promote widespread utilization of POCUS in low-resource settings globally.

Timed up and go test predicts mortality in older adults in Peru: a population-based cohort study

Background

While there is evidence about stablished risk factors (e.g., raised blood pressure) and higher mortality risk in older population, less has been explored about other functional parameters like the Timed Up and Go test and the Gait Speed in older people at low- and middle-income countries. We aimed to study these mobility tests as predictors of mortality in a population of older people in Peru.

Methods

Population-based prospective cohort study (2013–2020). Random sampling of people aged 60+ years in a community of Lima, Peru. Geriatricians conducted all clinical evaluations and laboratory tests were conducted in the local hospital. Participants were sought in the national vital registration system, and we collated cause (ICD-10) and date of death. We conducted a nested forward multivariate Cox proportional hazard model to identify all potential predictors of all-cause, communicable and non-communicable diseases mortality.

Results

At baseline, there were 501 older people (mean age 70.6 and 62.8% were women), complete follow-up information was available from 427 people. Mean follow-up time was 46.5 months (SD = 25.3). In multivariate models, the Timed Up and Go test was associated with higher risk of all-cause mortality (HR = 1.05; 95% CI: 1.02–1.09). For cause-specific mortality, history of heart disease (HR = 2.25; 95% CI: 1.07–4.76) and age in years (HR = 1.05; 95% CI: 1.01–1.09) were predictors of non-communicable diseases mortality.

Conclusions

In addition to established risk factors for mortality in older population, the Timed Up and Go test, a functional parameter, raised as a relevant predictor of all-cause mortality.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12877-022-02749-6.

Heavy-tailed distributions in haptic perception of wielded rods

Humans identify properties (e.g., the length or weight) of objects through touch using somatosensory perceptions in the limbs. Humans identify these properties by manipulating an object to access its inertial qualities. However, there is little work evidencing a unifying pattern of movements humans use to access these inertial properties. The current study examined if participants' wielding movements followed a systematic distribution-specifically, a Lévy-like distribution that is characterized by heavy-tails and is often seen in efficient foraging behavior. Participants wielded rods they could not see and were tasked to identify whether the rod they were wielding was the longer or shorter of two rods. While participants wielded the rod, the rod's motion was captured. Results demonstrate that the sampling of angular accelerations produced heavy-tailed distributions. Since angular acceleration has a distinct physical-mathematical relationship with inertia, this finding is consistent with the interpretation that the haptic subsystems are sensitive to the inertial properties of an object. Angular acceleration from wielding motions appear to follow a similar distribution as optimal foraging strategies-perhaps it is the case that humans are foraging for information about the inertia of an object through changes in angular acceleration and wielding movements.

Use of rehabilitation services by persons with disabilities in Brazil: A multivariate analysis from Andersen's behavioral model

Background

For many years, discussions about health care for people with disabilities (PwD) in Brazil have not been treated as a priority; however, based on the advances made at the beginning of this century, new policies have been developed with the aim of improving access of these people to health services. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze how individual characteristics and contextual indicators are associated with access to rehabilitation services for PwD in Brazil.

Methods

A multivariate analysis was performed based on data from the National Health Survey 2013, considering access to rehabilitation services by PwD as the primary outcome and individual and contextual factors selected from Andersen’s behavioral model as independent variables. The contextual variables were reduced to two composite indicators (1-primary health care coverage and unfavorable socioeconomic conditions, and 2-economic inequality) from the analysis of the principal components. Poisson regression analysis with robust variance was performed to estimate the prevalence ratio (PR) and the respective 95% confidence interval (95%CI).

Results

Access to rehabilitation services by PwD was more prevalent in people aged 0 to 17 years (PR = 3.28; 95%CI 2.85–3.78), who are illiterate (PR = 1.24; 95%CI 1.09–1.40), whose socioeconomic level is A or B (PR = 1.60; 95%CI 1.35–1.88), who have health insurance (PR = 1.31; 95%CI 1.15–1.49), who have severe limitations (PR = 3.09; 95%CI 2.64–3.62), who live in states with a good offer of Specialized Rehabilitation Centers, both type II (PR = 1.20; CI95% 1.08; 1.33) and type IV (PR = 1.29; CI95% 1.15; 1.44), and who have greater coverage of primary health care, but unfavorable socioeconomic conditions (PR = 1.15; CI95% 1.03–1.28).

Conclusion

The results clarify the social inequities that exist regarding access to rehabilitation services for PwD in Brazil and highlight the need to formulate and implement public policies that guarantee the realization of the rights of these people.