Women more likely to be admitted to care homes

Researchers have found that women are 40% more likely to be admitted in to a care home than men because they are often married to older partners who are unable to provide care for them as a result of their age-related frailty. The study, entitled "Gender differences in care home admission risk: Partner's age explains the higher risk for women," is published in the journal Age and Ageing. The researchers used data from the Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study (NILS), which they obtained from the Northern Ireland Health Card registration system and is linked to the 2001 Census return, and examined NILS members who, at the time, were 65 years or older and lived with their partner, as a couple, in the same household. 20.830 people over the age of 65 years lived in a two-person household with their partner. According to the census figures, these are 37.8% of all people who were not living in an institution at the time. The data showed that of the 37.8%, 9,367 or 45% were female, 31% were 75 years or older and 47% reported to have a limiting long term illness (LLTI). The researchers used a Cox proportional hazard model to examine the association between the risk of admission and the study members and their partners' characteristics over a 6-year period. The researchers found that women often have partners who are, on average, approximately 5 years older than them. In addition, they found that although the prevalence of ill health increased with age in both men and women, women at all ages, except for the 85+ year group, had sicker partners. During the study period, 415 individuals were admitted to care homes. In order to evaluate the risk of admission for married women compared to married men, the researchers controlled for both age and health status of the individual. The researchers found that women were 40% more likely to be admitted to a care home than their partners, although when the team took into account their partners age, women are not more likely than their partner to be admitted to care homes. Mark McCann, study author, said: "The higher admission risk for women in comparison to men appears to be due primarily to the differences in the age and frailty of their partners. This research has gone some way to debunking the myth that older men do not want to care for their partners. The findings clearly show that the main reason more women are admitted to care homes is that their partners are unable to provide sufficient support. Age differences between partners are evident in most societies so it is important that issues raised in this paper are considered in future health planning. The projected narrowing of the gap in life expectancy between men and women may mean that there are more men around to provide such support in future years."