Table 3

Factors associated with willingness for institutional care among older empty-nest singles in Shandong, China (n=391)

CharacteristicsWillingness for institutionalisationCOR (95% CI)P valuesAOR (95% CI)P values
Yes (%)No (%)
n=39163 (16.1)328 (83.9)
GenderNA
 Male21 (15.9)111 (84.1)1.0
 Female42 (16.2)217 (83.8)1.023 (0.578 to 1.812)0.938
AgeNA
 60−27 (16.7)135 (83.3)1.00.708
 70−27 (14.8)156 (85.2)0.865 (0.484 to 1.547)0.626
 80−9 (19.6)37 (80.4)1.216 (0.526 to 2.810)0.647
EducationNA
 Illiteracy or semiliterate38 (15.8)202 (84.2)1.0
 Primary school17 (17.7)79 (82.3)1.144 (0.610 to 2.144)0.675
 Junior school or above8 (14.5)47 (85.5)0.905 (0.396 to 2.066)0.812
Past occupationNA
 Farmer40 (14.4)238 (85.6)1.0
 Others23 (20.4)90 (79.6)1.521 (0.862 to 2.682)0.148
No of childrenNA
 0–338 (17.9)174 (82.1)1.0
 >325 (14.0)154 (86.0)0.743 (0.429 to 1.288)0.290
Relationship with children*NA
 Good or normal39 (13.1)259 (86.9)1.0
 Poor11 (22.0)39 (78.0)1.873 (0.886 to 3.962)0.101
Residence
 Urban38 (24.5)117 (75.5)1.01.0
 Rural25 (10.6)211 (89.4)0.365 (0.210 to 0.634) <0.001 0.304 (0.161 to 0.572)<0.001
Self-reported health statusNA
 Good24 (13.9)149 (86.1)1.0
 Normal or poor39 (17.9)179 (82.1)1.353 (0.778 to 2.352)0.284
Psychological stress†63 (16.1)328 (83.9)1.036 (1.000 to 1.073) 0.050 1.045 (1.007 to 1.085)0.019
ADLNA
 I32 (14.7)185 (85.3)1.0
 II18 (18.4)80 (81.6)1.301 (0.690 to 2.453)0.416
 III13 (17.1)63 (82.9)1.193 (0.589 to 2.415)0.624
NCDNA
 Yes50 (16.9)246 (83.1)1.0
 No13 (13.7)82 (86.3)0.780 (0.403 to 1.508)0.460
Household income‡
 Q129 (13.1)192 (86.9)1.01.0
 Q219 (23.5)62 (76.5)2.209 (1.064 to 3.869) 0.032 1.434 (0.721 to 2.851)0.304
 Q313 (18.8)56 (81.2)1.537 (0.749 to 3.154)0.2410.832 (0.373 to 1.858)0.654
 Q42 (10.0)18 (90.0)0.736 (0.162 to 3.337)0.6910.401 (0.084 to 1.917)0.252
Per capita living space63 (16.1)328 (83.9)0.997 (0.990 to 1.005)0.504NA
  • The bold values mean statistical significance.

  • *Forty-three of the participants are childless elders and were regarded as missing data here.

  • †We also included ‘psychological stress’ in a multivariate logistic regression model.

  • ‡Quartile 1 (Q1) is the poorest and Quartile 4 (Q4) is the richest.

  • ADL, activities of daily living; AOR, adjusted OR; COR, crude OR; NA, not applicable; NCD, non-communicable disease.