Disability and dependence of elderly people in the Basque Country
Proyectos
This report on disability and dependence of elderly people in the Basque Country aims to have an in-depth analysis of the dimensions and characteristics of people with disabilities and/or dependency, by exploiting the results of the aforementioned EDAD from 2008.
In order to comply with the definition of the interests of the report, in the exploitation and analyses performed based on the EDAD, the population of people aged 50 years or more who live in homes, but who have references and comparisons with the population aged 6 years or more with whom they share the same questions asked has been selected. In any case special attention has been paid to the elderly (aged 65 and over). Whenever it has been possible, three large age groups have been differentiated: 50 to 64 years (usually referred to in text as adults), 65 to 79 (sometimes referred to as young elderly people), and 80 years and above. The Survey separately deals with children aged 0 to 5 years, with a specific questionnaire due to their special relationship with problems of dependency and functionality; in this group, dependence should be understood as receiving help due to these limitations, because at that age, children are dependent in all matters of life. There is another specific questionnaire for collecting information on people living in collective establishments. Approximate figures on these specific population groups that fall outside the scope of this report, are presented in the section of large figures in the second chapter.
Collaboration agreement between the Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs of the Basque Government and the Fundación Matia Gerontological Institute
Objectives:
The Matia Gerontological Institute entrusts the Centre of Human and Social Sciences (CCHSP of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) with the development of an exploitation of the results of the Survey on Disability, Personal Autonomy and Situations of Dependency (EDAD), conducted by the National Statistics Institute (INE) in 2008.
Results
- In the Basque Country there are 172,857 people with disabilities (or limitations, if they are younger than 6 years of age), which in relative terms is 8.1% of the total population. Of these, 90,647 people are in a situation of dependence, which is 4.3% of the total community. The proportions are lower than the average for Spain.
- Standardised dependency rates place the Basque Country as the autonomous community with the third lowest percentages, behind Madrid and La Rioja. The proportion of people with dependence varies between 4.1% and 4.6% in the different Basque Provinces.
- The average age of people with disabilities is high. The majority (81.4%), are 50 years of age or older. Among people in situations of dependency, the weight of the elderly population is even higher.
- The rates of disability and dependency increase with age, experiencing a sharp rise in the range of 80 years and above. If the weight of disability and dependence among the population of people aged 50 to 65 years is 8.1% and 2.6%, respectively, among people aged 80 and over, it increases to represent 49.4% and 37.3% of its age group.
- More than 15,000 people reside in collective establishments; almost all of them (93.5%) have a disability, and the vast majority of these are dependent. Elderly women predominate in these establishments.
- Disability and dependence are phenomena that occur in slightly higher proportions in the young male population. At around 50 years of age, the trend is reversed, and the women become those who register higher percentages. As such, there is a "feminisation" of situations of dependency. However, these differences do not become significant until a very old age.
Year
Project status
Professionals
Other Professionals
- Antonio Abellán García
- Penélope Castejón Villarejo
- Cecilia Esparza Catalán