Home Health Care Utilization and Successful Aging Trajectories: Insights From the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS)

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to delineate distinct trajectories of successful aging and investigate the influence of home health care utilization on these trajectories.

METHODS: Data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) were utilized, with a sample of 5,142 older adults aged 67.37 ± 6.15 on average. The Group-Based Trajectory Model (GBTM) was employed to identify developmental trajectories, while logistic regression was utilized to examine the associations between home health care utilization and successful aging trajectories.

RESULTS: Results showed that successful aging was classified into three trajectory groups among the participants: persistently high (24.47%), persistently moderate (58.30%), and persistently low (17.23%). The impact of home health care utilization on these trajectories was found to be statistically significant (p<0.01), while education status (p<0.001), residence (p<0.001), and hospitalization (p<0.001) were also identified as factors influencing the developmental trajectories.

CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study revealed distinct trajectories of successful aging, with a notable association between increasing utilization of home health care and more favorable outcomes.