Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41567104›Full record

ArticleAustralasian journal on ageing2026

Characterising Informal Care in Older Individuals Receiving Long-Term Home Care Support: A National Epidemiological Study.

Tesfahun C Eshetie, Alana R Cuthbert, Janet K Sluggett, Solomon Yu, Carolyn Dawkins, Marjorie Schulze, Gillian E Caughey, Maria C Inacio

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Australasian journal on ageing, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing 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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. 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

8 authors.

Tesfahun C EshetieRegistry of Senior Australians Research Centre, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Alana R CuthbertRegistry of Senior Australians Research Centre, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Janet K SluggettRegistry of Senior Australians Research Centre, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Solomon YuAdelaide Geriatrics Training and Research With Aged Care (GTRAC) Centre, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Adelaide Medical School, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Carolyn DawkinsECH Inc, Parkside, South Australia, Australia.
Marjorie SchulzeRegistry of Senior Australians Research Centre, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Gillian E CaugheyRegistry of Senior Australians Research Centre, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Maria C InacioRegistry of Senior Australians Research Centre, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.

Funding

Hospital Research Foundation GroupNational Health and Medical Research Council Investigator Grants GNT119378National Health and Medical Research Council Investigator Grants GNT2016277National Health and Medical Research Council Investigator Grants GNT2026400
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo examine the prevalence, trends and geographic variation of informal care reported by individuals accessing long-term home care support between 2012 and 2019 in Australia.

methodsPopulation-based national cross-sectional study using the Registry of Senior Australians (ROSA) National Historical cohort. Non-Indigenous individuals 65-105 years old who accessed long-term home care through a Home Care Package between 01 January 2012 and 31 December 2019 in Australia were included. Informal carer availability was ascertained from individuals' aged care eligibility assessments. Informal carers are individuals who provide unpaid care and support to others. Socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of those with and without informal carers were examined. Yearly trends and geographic variation in the proportion of individuals reporting a carer were examined. The effect of a 1-year increase in receiving initial long-term home care on the probability of having a carer over time was described using an odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) from a logistic regression model, adjusted for age, sex and dementia status.

resultsOverall, 233,567 long-term home care recipients with known carer status were studied. The proportion of care recipients with an informal carer decreased from 86% in 2012 to 78% in 2019 (adjusted OR: 0.95, 95% CI 0.95-0.95). The decrease in informal care reported over time was more pronounced in females (OR: 0.96, 95% CI 0.95-0.97) than in males and in individuals without dementia (OR: 0.95, 95% CI 0.94-0.95). Visualisations of informal care prevalence showed substantial geographical (range: 60%-98%) variation nationally.

conclusionsThere was a decline in reported informal care availability for older Australians entering long-term home care between 2012 and 2019, with substantial national variation. Lower informal carer availability likely translates in greater formal care needs.

Indexed as

CaregiversHome Care ServicesLong-Term CareAgedAged, 80 and overAustraliaCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansMalePrevalenceRegistriesTime Factorsdementiahome careinformal careinformal caregiverslong‐term care

Identifiers

PMID41567104
PMCPMC12824823

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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.