Patterns of Comorbidity, Disability, and Home Health Care Service for Older Adults With Physical Disability: A Latent Class Analysis and Visualized Illustration

Understanding the relationships between comorbidity, disability, and home health-care services aids in user-centered care design. This study identifies patterns of these factors among older adults with physical disability living at home and explores their associations. This cross-sectional study included community-dwelling older adults assessed for Long-term Care Insurance from September 1 to December 31, 2018, in Yiwu, Zhejiang, China. We analyzed deidentified data on sociodemographics, physical disability, chronic conditions, and care plans for 1882 participants using latent class analysis and multinomial logistic regression. Five comorbidity patterns (other sporadic diseases, cancer comorbidity, other sporadic comorbidities, coronary atherosclerotic heart disease, and fracture) and four home health-care service patterns (assistance & facilitation of elimination, bedridden assistance & stoma care, bedside assistance & stoma care, and assistance & tube feeding) were identified. Four disability patterns emerged (bedridden without incontinence, bedridden & with upper limb mobility, off-bed & ADLs limited, and bedridden with incontinence). Complex associations between these patterns were observed. The study highlights the heterogeneity and complexity of the above patterns, emphasizing the importance of person-centered home health-care services and technology-supported care strategies.