Analysis of the status quo of the Elderly’s demands of medical and elderly care combination in the underdeveloped regions of Western China and its influencing factors: a case study of Lanzhou

BACKGROUND: This study aims to analyse the current demand by senior citizens in Lanzhou, China for a combination of medical and elderly care services and to identify the factors influencing their needs. METHODS: 7500 participants aged 60 or above living in Lanzhou, China, were recruited, a unified questionnaire concerning elderly people’s demand for a service combining medical and elderly care has been adopted to survey these subjects. The status quo of the demand of the service combining medical and elderly care and its influencing factors were analysed with the single-factor Chi-square test and multi-factor binomial logistic regression method. RESULTS: 3772 of 7320 older people have the demand for the service combining medical and elderly care, accounting for 53.15% of survey respondents. Many factors are in play, including gender, marital status, degree of education, occupation before retirement, number of children, monthly income, health self-assessment status, endowment insurance type, medical insurance type, current nursing arrangements, old-age demands, self-care ability and the knowledge of combining medical and elderly care and the willingness to pay for the combination of medical and elderly care have statistical significance (P < 0.05) with the elderly’s needs, different ages, living styles and the prevalence of chronic diseases, have no statistical significance (P > 0.05) with the elderly’s care needs in Lanzhou. The number of children, type of medical insurance and willingness to pay for the combination of medical treatment and nursing care are major influencing factors among the complex factors influencing the elderly’s demand for the proposed service. CONCLUSIONS: The low knowledge rate and demand rate, the number of children, the type of medical insurance, and the willingness to pay for the medical-nursing combination service for the elderly in Lanzhou have a great impact on the elderly’s demand rate for combining medical and elderly care. Meanwhile, relevant government departments should focus more on the promotion of the endowment model of combining medical and elderly care and provide integrated medical care services by integrating multiple resources, and improving social security.