Table 3.
Partial measure index of social disability risk and its assignment.
| Index layer | Index assignment | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Proportion of the older disabled population in the older population (C8) | Physical Self-Maintenance Scale (PSMS) of the CHARLS household questionnaire was used to determine whether the older respondent was disabled, which corresponded to the six questions DB010-DBA015 in the questionnaire. Four options: “No difficulty” or “have difficulty but can still do,” were considered “non-disability,” and “have difficulty and need help” or “cannot do” were considered “disability.” If one of the six questions was scored “disability,” the respondent was considered disabled | % |
| Education level of the older people per capita (C14) | The degree of education was measured by BD001_W2_4 in the CHARLS questionnaire and adopted a reverse assignment, with a total of 11 discrete variables: “Doctoral degree” = 1, “Master's degree” = 2, …, “not finish primary school” = 10, “no formal education” = 11 | – |
| Activities of daily living per capita older population (C16) | The ADL scale in CHARLS was used to measure the activities of daily living (ADL), including six items of a physical self-maintenance scale (PSMS) and six items related to instrumental activities of daily living corresponded to DB010-DB015, DB016-DB020, and DB035 in the questionnaire. Among the options were “no difficulty” = 1, “difficulty but can still do” = 2, “difficulty and need help” = 3, “cannot do” = 4, and the older respondents who answered “no telephone” in question DB035 were excluded | – |
| Cognitive ability of per capita older population (C17) | Cognitive ability is measured by the simple mental state in CHARLS and consists of three parts: DC001_W4-DC012_W4, DC014_W4_DC014_W4_5, and DC016_W4-DC024_W4. There are 24 questions in total. Each correct answer is marked with 1 point, and the score ranges from 0 to 24 points | – |
| Number of chronic diseases per capita in the older population (C18) | The self-reported diagnosis of chronic diseases by doctors of the respondents was used as a measurement. Among the 14 chronic diseases listed in the questionnaire, one respondent was diagnosed with one, and the score ranged from 0 to 14, corresponding to the 14 questions under DA007 in CHARLS | - |
| Psychological status of the per capita older population (C20) | Psychological status was measured by CESD in the CHARLS questionnaire, corresponding to 10 questions DC009-DC018. Among the options were “rarely or none of the time” = 0, “some or a little of the time” = 1, “occasionally or a moderate amount of the time” = 2, and “most or all of the time” = 3, with the score ranging from 0 to 30 | – |
| Social adaptability of the per capita older population (C21) | One point is scored for each of the 11 social interaction activities, measured by the DA056 question in CHARLS. The score ranges from 0 to 11 | – |