Self-Help DevicesLong-Term CareCaregiver BurdenHealth Services Research
Study summary
The goal of this observational study is to examine the associations between assistive device approval and acquisition modality (rental or purchase), long-term care service utilization, and family caregiver burden among individuals receiving long-term care services in Taiwan. The study will use de-identified nationwide long-term care administrative data from 2021 to 2022.
The main questions it aims to answer are:
1. What individual, disability-related, socioeconomic, residential, and caregiving factors are associated with assistive device approval, the number and type of approved devices, and rental or purchase modality?
2. Are assistive device approval and utilization patterns associated with the use of formal long-term care services and with family caregiver burden?
Eligibility
Sex
ALL
Min age
—
Max age
—
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion Criteria:
* Individuals with a valid long-term care case record (CA100) in Taiwan's long-term care database between 2021 and 2022.
* Individuals with at least one valid assessment or care plan record (CA110) that can be linked to the corresponding CA100 record.
* Availability of interpretable key study variables, including individual and assessment/care plan identifiers, care plan status, and Case-Mix System (CMS) level or other core disability-related information.
* For analyses of assistive device utilization, the presence or absence of an assistive device record (QD113) and its approval status must be identifiable.
Exclusion Criteria:
* Records with missing key linkage variables that prevent establishment of relationships among individuals, care plans, assistive device records, or service utilization records.
* Records identified as invalid, cancelled, test records, or records whose validity cannot be determined.
* Records in which primary study variables cannot be interpreted.
* Records with clearly implausible values for variables such as individual age, caregiver age, CMS level, number of assistive devices, or service utilization that cannot be corrected according to prespecified data-cleaning rules.
* Records with inconsistent or contradictory date information that prevents valid determination of an index date or observation period.
Primary outcome measure(s)
Assistive Device Approval Status — During the 2021-2022 observation period Whether an individual had an approved assistive device record, determined using the approval status recorded in the Assistive Technology File (QD113). Associations with disability severity, sociodemographic characteristics, residential characteristics, and caregiving conditions will be examined.
Formal Long-Term Care Service Utilization — During the 2021-2022 observation period Utilization of formal long-term care services, including total service utilization and category-specific utilization of care services, professional services, transportation, respite care, meal services, and other long-term care services. Associations with assistive device approval, number of devices, acquisition modality, and device category will be examined.
Family Caregiver Burden — During the 2021-2022 observation period Family caregiver burden will be assessed using available administrative-record indicators, including sleep disturbance, physical burden, competing caregiving demands, distress related to care-recipient behaviors, and inability to cope with caregiving stress. A cumulative caregiver burden indicator will also be derived from the number of burden items endorsed.
Trial sites (1)
Facility
City
Region
Status
National Center for Geriatrics and Welfare Research, National Health Research Institutes
Huwei
Yunlin County
More National Health Research Institutes, Taiwan trials in Taiwan
This page summarises publicly available registry data for informational purposes — not medical advice. Eligibility is determined by each study team; patients should discuss participation with their clinician.
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