Who Lives Alone? Trends Over Time in the Characteristics of Sweden’s Solitary Living Older Adults
Year: 2017
Type: conference-abstract
Abstract: Sweden maintains one of the world’s highest rates of older adults who live alone, and the number of solitary living older adults in Sweden continues to rise. Given the potential health impact of living alone, it is critical that the factors which select individuals into the living alone arrangement be understood. While prior studies have examined the determinants of living alone among older adults, few have examined how these determinants may have changed over recent decades, as the overall rates of living alone during old age have stabilized and declined in Sweden. The purpose of this study is to assess how the associations between living alone and a variety of socioeconomic, social, behavioral, and functional factors have changed in successive cohorts of older adults in Sweden, from 1992 to 2014. Data come from the Swedish Panel Study of Living Conditions of the Oldest Old (SWEOLD), a nationally representative survey of adults aged 77 and older who are living in Sweden. Our findings suggest that today’s population of older men who live alone in Sweden are more likely to be socioeconomically disadvantaged and functionally impaired compared to previous cohorts of solitary living older men in Sweden; similar patterns were found in women, but were not statistically significant. These findings indicate that while successive cohorts of the oldest old have generally seen improvements in socioeconomic status, health and functioning over recent decades, the cohorts of men who live alone have become increasingly disadvantaged.
Source: Innovation in Aging
Institution: University at Albany, State University of New York
Language: English
Subfield: General Health Professions
Field: Health Professions
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,977
OpenAlex ID: W2728770720