Who is taking care of the Chinese functionally impaired older people? The characteristics of family caregivers from China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study.

OBJECTIVE To investigate caregiving in terms of personal, family and living arrangement among Chinese functionally impaired older people. METHODS A secondary cross-sectional analysis of data obtained from China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) was performed. Among 6,252 participants aged 65 years or older, people with at least one indicator of Activities of Daily Living Scales (ADLs) of disabilities were included in this research. Statistical analyses included chi-square tests and multiple logistic regression modelling. RESULTS Data of 973 functionally impaired people aged 65 and over, and 2772 adult offspring were extracted and analysed. The level of impairment, age, gender, marital status of the functionally impaired older people, adult offspring's income and living status were significantly associated with caregiving types. CONCLUSION This research describes the characteristics of functionally impaired older people and their caregivers, which may help improve the efficiency, quality and equity within the Chinese social care system.