Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39849500›Full record

ArticleInternational journal for equity in health2025

Socioeconomic Inequity in Access to Medical and Long-Term Care Among Older People.

Shohei Okamoto, Atsuhiro Yamada, Erika Kobayashi, Jersey Liang

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in International journal for equity in health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Shohei OkamotoResearch Team for Social Participation and Healthy Aging, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for Geriatrics and Gerontology, 35-2 Sakae-cho, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo, 1730015, Japan. shohei@z2.keio.jp.
Atsuhiro YamadaFaculty of Economics, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan.
Erika KobayashiResearch Team for Social Participation and Healthy Aging, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for Geriatrics and Gerontology, 35-2 Sakae-cho, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo, 1730015, Japan.
Jersey LiangDepartment of Health Management and Policy, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Michigan, USA.

Funding

Japan Society for the Promotion of Science 20H00091; 23H00063Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Open Research Areas (ORA) programWorld Health Organization Centre for Health Development K21003
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundEnsuring equitable access to medical and long-term care (LTC) is critical to enable older people to maintain their health and well-being even after they undergo a decline in their intrinsic capacity.

methodsWe used data from five waves of the National Survey of the Japanese Elderly, conducted between 2002 and 2021, to assess gradients in access to medical care and LTC by income and education among Japanese individuals aged 60 years and above. Specifically, we assessed self-reported unmet needs for medical care and LTC, and public LTC use, and estimated the concentration indices (CI) to evaluate the degree of inequality and inequity. We standardised public LTC use by need and non-need variables. We analysed data derived from up to 1,775 person-wave observations from 1,370 individuals.

findingsThe pooled incidence across waves of forgone medical care, self-reported unmet support for activities of daily living (ADL) or instrumental ADL (IADL), and those not certified for LTC services even with ADL or IADL limitations were 4.6%, 15.5%, and 62.5%, respectively. Public LTC use demonstrated pro-higher education and pro-rich distribution, whereas the gaps decreased for need-predicted use. Based on the CI estimates, no explicit inequality was found for forgone medical care. However, we observed inequity in standardised LTC use across education, indicating pro-higher education inequality, particularly among women and those aged ≥ 80 years.

conclusionImproving the understanding of available resources and strengthening the functions of health centres and communities are required to detect the needs of citizens and facilitate their access to necessary care.

Indexed as

Healthcare DisparitiesHealth Services AccessibilityLong-Term CareActivities of Daily LivingAgedAged, 80 and overFemaleHumansJapanMaleMiddle AgedSocioeconomic FactorsSurveys and Questionnaires

Identifiers

PMID39849500
PMCPMC11756124

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.