Table 3.
Effects of Living Arrangements and Household Composition Changes on Nursing Home Entry and Time to Entry: Assets and Health Dynamics of the Elderly/Health and Retirement Survey 1993–2002
| Nursing home entry |
Time to entry |
|||
| Coefficient (SE) | Predicted probability (%) | Marginal effects (as % change)a | Hazard ratio (CI) | |
| Number of changes in household composition | −0.24** (0.06) | 8.3 | −28 | 0.60** (0.47–0.77) |
| Living arrangements | ||||
| Continuously | ||||
| Aloneb | — | 14.4 | — | — |
| With spouse | −0.27** (0.05) | 10.2 | −28 | 0.77** (0.64–93) |
| With same child | −0.48** (0.08) | 7.5 | −48 | 0.54** (0.41–0.70) |
| With othersc | −0.07 (0.12) | 13.1 | −13 | 0.91 (0.65–1.28) |
| Changed | ||||
| From spouse or alone to child | −0.16 (0.14) | 13.4 | −6 | 0.81 (0.52–1.24) |
| From spouse to alone | −0.31** (0.11) | 9.7 | −36 | 0.61** (0.41–0.80) |
| From spouse/alone/with child to othersc | −0.33** (0.16) | 9.4 | −24 | 0.69 (0.40–1.18) |
| Other patterns | −0.17 (0.14) | 11.7 | −26 | 0.85 (0.52–1.38) |
| Years observed in survey | 0.01** (0.00) | 14.2 | 22 | — |
| Age (in years)d | 0.05** (0.00) | 12.6 | 0.8 | 1.09** (1.08–1.10) |
| Maled | −0.15** (0.05) | 10.0 | −23 | 0.81** (0.68–0.99) |
| Black, non-Hispanicd | −0.11* (0.08) | 10.5 | −13 | 0.74** (0.60–0.90) |
| Hispanicd | −0.42** (0.01) | 6.8 | −44 | 0.44** (0.30–0.64) |
| Net worthd,e | −0.50** (0.01) | 10.9 | −7 | 0.91** (0.87–0.95) |
| Number of living childrend | −0.04** (0.01) | 11.0 | −6 | 0.93** (0.90–0.96) |
| Any ADL limitations (yes)d | 0.65** (0.06) | 21.7 | 117 | 2.72** (2.28–3.20) |
| Number of chronic diseasesd | 0.01 (0.02) | 12.2 | 5 | 0.99 (0.94–1.10) |
| Cognitive functioningd | 0.42** (0.06) | 17.9 | 67 | 2.40** (2.01–2.86) |
| Experienced decline in physical or cognitive functioning | 1.13** (0.55) | 19.7 | 463 | 4.99** (4.15–6.01) |
| Constant | −6.62 (—) | — | — | — |
Notes: Results for nursing home entry are from a probit model (dependent variable = permanent nursing home entry yes/no). Results for time to entry are from a competing risks Gompertz hazard model (dependent variable = months to permanent nursing home entry). CI = confidence interval.
Marginal effects represent percentage changes in adjusted (predicted) probability of nursing home entry relative to the baseline predicted probability of 11.6%. For continuous variables, adjusted probabilities are calculated by adding one unit to the relevant characteristics (e.g., number of changes in household composition) while holding other factors constant at their original levels. For binary variables, marginal effects represent the difference (measured as percentage change) between adjusted probabilities calculated by first assuming the presence and then the absence of a specific characteristic (e.g., fair/poor memory assessment) while holding other factors constant at their original levels.
Marginal effects for living arrangement variables represent percentage change between adjusted probabilities of nursing home entry for each category relative to the adjusted probability of 14.3% for the reference category “alone.”
Predominantly relatives (excluding a spouse or adult child).
Baseline measures.
Continuous variable constructed by dividing net worth in dollars by $100,000.
*0.01< p ≤ .05; **p ≤ .01.