Formal and informal care received by middle-aged and older adults with chronic conditions in Canada: CLSA data

BACKGROUND: Middle-aged and older adults are more likely to suffer from chronic conditions, which can increase their need for both formal and informal care. This study seeks to assess and compare the extent to which the use of formal and informal care is attributed to different chronic conditions among middle-aged and older women and men in Canada. METHODS: We used baseline data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA). Outcomes of interest were the number of hours of formal care and informal care received during the past 12 months. All chronic conditions were first classified according to existing classification frameworks. If total formal and informal care hours for a particular condition differed greatly from other conditions, we considered it as a stand-alone classification. We used a two-part model consisting of a logistic regression for the probability of receiving formal/informal care and a generalized linear model for the hours of formal/informal care for those who received care. RESULTS: Our final analytic sample was 23,206 women and 22,903 men who did not have missing data. Among the 16 chronic conditions considered, multiple sclerosis, memory problems, Parkinsonism, and stroke had the greatest average marginal effects on overall hours of formal care among women (53.07, 13.95, 9.13 and 8.14 incremental hours annually, respectively) and men (152.17, 8.13, 13.95 and 6.00 incremental hours). Similarly, the average marginal effects of these four conditions on informal care were the greatest (77.78, 29.52, 26.18 and 34.95 incremental hours for women and 133.94, 34.99, 104.86 and 17.85 incremental hours for men). CONCLUSIONS: Chronic conditions, especially multiple sclerosis, Parkinsonism, memory problems, and stroke, are associated with substantial time of formal and informal care in middle-aged and older women and men. Findings will help decision-makers assess the potential impact of chronic disease prevention and management programs in an aging population.