Page 74 - IJPS-11-2

International Journal of
Population Studies Health-care access for the elderly living alone

Table 1. Descriptive statistics of the study samples and variables (%)
Variables Entire sample (N=4,611) X test Matched sample (N=1,466) X test
2
2
Living alone p‑value Living alone p‑value
Yes (n=746 [16.18%]) No (n=3,865 [83.82%]) Yes (n=733 [50%]) No (n=733 [50%])
Unmet health-care needs
Yes 8.98 5.54 <0.001* 9.14 5.87 0.017*
No 91.02 94.46 90.86 94.13
Income tercile
T1 58.31 25.17 <0.001* 57.57 57.57 0.550
T2 28.02 37.13 28.51 26.74
T3 13.67 37.70 13.92 15.69
Age tercile
T1 33.65 39.59 <0.001* 34.24 32.33 0.708
T2 31.64 30.53 31.65 31.92
T3 34.72 29.88 34.11 35.74
Sex
Male 28.42 41.76 <0.001* 28.92 27.56 0.562
Female 71.58 58.24 71.08 72.44
Education
Primary or lower 78.28 78.65 0.821 79.67 79.26 0.846
Secondary or higher 21.72 21.35 20.33 20.74
Chronic disease
Yes 83.29 79.36 0.010* 79.67 80.49 0.695
No 16.71 20.64 20.33 19.51
Place of residence
Rural 46.65 44.94 0.391 47.20 45.70 0.565
Urban 53.35 55.06 52.80 54.30
Note: *p<0.05.
Abbreviation: T: Tercile.
older people living alone than in those not living alone for both models were greater than 0.05, suggesting that the
(9.14% versus 5.87%). This result means that living alone BLR models did not show a lack of fit with the data.
significantly increased the chance of experiencing UHN Table 2 shows the results of the BLR model using the
among older people, regardless of differences in their matched sample, which was considered in line with the
sociodemographic characteristics.
first research objective of this study (i.e., to analyze the
The results obtained from the entire sample of data effect of living arrangements on UHN after controlling
indicate that older people living alone have significantly for potential confounders). The results indicate that living
poorer sociodemographic situations than those not living alone positively affects UHN, with an aOR of 1.613 and
alone. Specifically, the living-alone group, compared to the a CI of 1.066 – 2.440. This AOR means that among older
non-living-alone group, comprised a higher proportion of people who needed health care, those living alone were
older people with low incomes and chronic diseases; they 1.613 times more likely not to have access to it than those
also tended to be older and female. These sociodemographic not living alone. Similar to the descriptive analysis results,
inequalities are consistent with previous findings (Meemon this result also indicates that living alone significantly
& Paek, 2020; Osornprasop & Sondergaard, 2016).
increases the probability of experiencing UHN among
3.2. BLR analysis older people, regardless of differences in sociodemographic
characteristics.
Tables 2 and 3 reveal the results of the BLR models using
the matched sample and the entire sample, respectively. Table 3 reveals the results of the BLR model using the
The p-values of Hosmer–Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test entire sample, which was considered in line with the second

Volume 11 Issue 2 (2025) 68 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.1218