Gender Differences in Functional Limitations of Frail Older People Ageing in Place Alone in Italy

Description

The dataset includes data collected for the study "Inclusive ageing in place” (IN-AGE), funded by Fondazione Cariplo (Italy), Grant N. 2017-0941. This cross-sectional qualitative survey was carried out in 2019 in both urban and rural sites of three Italian regions (Lombardy, Marche, and Calabria). Semi-structured interviews were administered face-to-face to a purposive sample of 120 frail older people aged 65 years and over (males and females). Inclusion criteria were the following: living at home; alone or with a private personal care assistant (PCA); no cognitive impairment; intermediate mobility between limited/reduced within the home, and outside the home with help; and absence of help by close family members (living in the same urban block/rural building). The dataset contains socio-demographic dimensions (e.g., age groups, gender, living situation, marital status, education), daily activities performed alone/in autonomy, with help, not performed (i.e., the senior is “not able”), and type of support. The dataset puts in relation the difficulties of older men and women in carrying out Basic and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (ADLs-IADLs), in addition to two mobility limitations (going up/down the stairs and bending to pick up an object), and sensory limitations (hearing and eyesight). The level of physical limitations is further assessed with four grades: “mild” when older person is able to perform all the activities (no activity labelled “not able” is referred); “moderate” when older person is unable to perform one-two activities; “high” when older person is unable to perform three-four activities; “very high” when older person is unable to perform five or more activities. The following sources of support are addressed: relatives/children, friends, neighbours, operators from private services (e.g., Domestic Home Helper, DHH), from public services (e.g., Home Care Worker, HCW), and personal/private care assistant (PCA). Main results show that men are more limited than women, and cleaning the house, shopping, bathing/showering, and washing the laundry are overall the most difficult activities, but particularly for men. The family, especially children, represents the greater support for both genders, in addition to public/private services. However, older men are supported by HCWs and PCAs more than women, and the latter are supported by DHHs and friends/neighbours more than men. For both genders, some limitations, i.e., poor mobility, poor eyesight and hearing, and poor memory, affect transversally several activities of daily living. These results can offer insights for policymakers to develop adequate policies, taking in consideration the gender dimension. The dataset is provided in open format (Microsoft Excel) and includes the following: a “numeric” dataset regarding the un-labelled dimensions used for statistics elaboration; a codebook with the complete variables list and variables labels we used.

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