The oldest old are in a stage of life in which changes in functioning can occur more rapidly and more catastrophically than earlier in life. For example, cognitive decline markedly accelerates during the last years of life [10 (link)]. Therefore, it is important to accurately monitor trajectories of functioning and changes in functioning in this age group. At the same time, there have been recent changes in policy in the Netherlands that may particularly affect the oldest old. As of 2015, the Social Support Act (WMO) directs municipalities to provide support for people with functional limitations, including instrumental support at home, home care and social care, which was previously regulated by the national government. This may lead to variations in care provision between different municipalities. In addition, the Long-term Care Act for residential care (WLZ), and the Care Insurance Act for personal and nursing home care at home (ZVW) were implemented. In these acts, thresholds for access to care were raised, making it more difficult to be eligible for residential care, which can lead to an increased reliance on informal care and privately paid care. The absolute increase in the number of oldest old in the community, the rapid changes in functioning among the oldest old and the recent policy changes were the main reasons for conducting an ancillary study among the oldest LASA respondents with increased density of measurements.
Three additional nine-monthly measurements were performed between the regular LASA measurements in 2015–2016 (wave I) and 2018–2019 (wave J). Thus, together with these regular measurement waves, data from five consecutive nine-monthly measurements will become available for studying changes and trajectories of the four domains of functioning. All persons aged 75 years and over (born before 1941) were invited to participate in this ancillary study (n = 686). In total, 601 persons agreed to participate (87.6%). At the first additional measurement (wave I—v1), 442 (73.5%) participated in a face-to-face home interview and 159 (26.5%) participated in a telephone interview (61 with respondent and 98 with proxy). The topics included in the interview, as well as the response rates for each additional nine-monthly measurement, are presented in Table4 . Respondents who had a face-to-face interview were asked to fill out a one-week calendar to study changes in pain, use of pain medication, mood, sleep, social contacts and appetite on a daily basis. Respondents were asked to return the calendar by postal mail.
Three additional nine-monthly measurements were performed between the regular LASA measurements in 2015–2016 (wave I) and 2018–2019 (wave J). Thus, together with these regular measurement waves, data from five consecutive nine-monthly measurements will become available for studying changes and trajectories of the four domains of functioning. All persons aged 75 years and over (born before 1941) were invited to participate in this ancillary study (n = 686). In total, 601 persons agreed to participate (87.6%). At the first additional measurement (wave I—v1), 442 (73.5%) participated in a face-to-face home interview and 159 (26.5%) participated in a telephone interview (61 with respondent and 98 with proxy). The topics included in the interview, as well as the response rates for each additional nine-monthly measurement, are presented in Table
Ancillary study: additional nine-monthly measurements among the oldest old (born before 1941)
| Response | Wave I—v1 | Wave I—v2 | Wave I—v3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Date range interviews | July 2016–July 2017 | April 2017–April 2018 | January 2018–January 2019 |
| Invited, n | 686 | 601 | 550 |
| Participated, n (%) | 601 (87.6) | 550 (91.5) | 507 (92.2) |
| Age, mean (SD) | 83.0 (5.4) | 83.4 (5.2) | 83.8 (4.9) |
| Data available | |||
| Face-to-face interview, n | 442 | 410 | 364 |
| Calendar data, na | 387 | 368 | 325 |
| Telephone interview Respondent, n | 61 | 55 | 59 |
| Telephone interview Proxy, n | 98 | 85 | 84 |
| Measures | |||
| Face-to-face interview | Demographic data, gait speed, grip strength, chronic diseases, self-rated health, functional limitations, homecare/informal care, care needs, healthcare use, depressive symptoms (CES-D, short version), falls and fractures, memory complaints, cognitive functioning (MMSE, coding task), loneliness (De Jong Gierveld loneliness scale, short version), weight measurement, self-reported weight change, physical activity, pain, end of life care and preferences, and partner health | ||
| Calendar data | One-week calendar, with questions on pain (1–10; severe pain-no pain), use of pain medication (yes/no), mood (1–10; very bad-very good), sleep (1–10; very bad-very good), social contact (number of people), and appetite (1–5; very bad-very good) on a daily basis | ||
| Telephone interview | Demographic data, chronic diseases, self-rated health, functional limitations, homecare/informal care, care needs, healthcare use, depressive symptoms (CES-D, short version), falls and fractures, memory complaints, cognitive functioning (MMSE, short version), loneliness (De Jong Gierveld loneliness scale, short version), self-reported weight change, physical activity, pain, end of life care and preferences, and partner health | ||
aCalendar data is only available for those participating in the face-to-face interview
Free full text: Click here
