IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/palcom/v10y2023i1d10.1057_s41599-023-02311-8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Prevalence and patterns of mental and cognitive impairments among missing older adults in China

Author

Listed:
  • Zhihai Zhang

    (Shandong University)

  • Fengxia Zhu

    (Shandong University)

  • Yueyun Zhang

    (Harbin Institute of Technology)

Abstract

Missing older adults (MOAs) are older adults whose whereabouts cannot be established at present or at any time previously. The MOAs represent a notable intersection of old age and missingness, given the accelerating population aging and sizable missing persons in many societies. However, the prevalence and patterns of mental and cognitive conditions of MOAs have received little attention. This study aimed to address this gap. This study collected data from the Toutiao Alert, a large missing-person appeal platform in China. The analytical sample included 32885 MOAs (mean age, 73.6 years; female, 40.2%) who were reported missing on the platform between 2017 and 2021. The mental and cognitive impairments and other measures were extracted from the reported information. The results show that the overall levels of mental and cognitive impairments among MOAs were 10.6 and 41.5%, respectively. Moreover, these levels varied by gender, age, and spatiotemporal factors such as the region and year of missingness. Women exhibited higher levels of mental and cognitive impairments. Age was associated with lower levels of mental impairments but higher levels of cognitive impairments. Across regions, MOAs from Northeast China had lower levels of mental and cognitive impairments. From 2017 to 2021, the mental or cognitive impairment levels initially decreased, but then increased until the most recent year. The prevalence and patterns of mental and cognitive impairments revealed in this study contributed to our understanding of the health and well-being of MOAs as one of the distinct groups within the expanding elderly population. Future healthcare policies and services targeting MOAs may benefit from these findings.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhihai Zhang & Fengxia Zhu & Yueyun Zhang, 2023. "Prevalence and patterns of mental and cognitive impairments among missing older adults in China," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-9, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:10:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-023-02311-8
    DOI: 10.1057/s41599-023-02311-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41599-023-02311-8
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41599-023-02311-8?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Xiaoyan Lei & Yuqing Hu & John J. McArdle & James P. Smith & Yaohui Zhao, 2012. "Gender Differences in Cognition among Older Adults in China," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 47(4), pages 951-971.
    2. Vicki A. Freedman & Brenda C. Spillman, 2014. "The Residential Continuum From Home to Nursing Home: Size, Characteristics and Unmet Needs of Older Adults," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 69(Suppl_1), pages 42-50.
    3. Vania Ceccato & Robin Petersson, 2022. "Social Media and Emergency Services: Information Sharing about Cases of Missing Persons in Rural Sweden," Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 112(1), pages 266-285, January.
    4. Adriana L. Ruiz-Rizzo & Mario E. Archila-Meléndez & José John Fredy González Veloza, 2022. "Predicting the probability of finding missing older adults based on machine learning," Journal of Computational Social Science, Springer, vol. 5(2), pages 1303-1321, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Elvira NICA & Gheorghe H. POPESCU, 2013. "Gender Differences In Strategy And Human Resource Management," Proceedings of Administration and Public Management International Conference, Research Centre in Public Administration and Public Services, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 9(1), pages 113-126, June.
    2. Mitra, Sophie & Gao, Qin & Chen, Wei & Zhang, Yalu, 2020. "Health, work, and income among middle-aged and older adults: A panel analysis for China," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 17(C).
    3. Angrisani, Marco & Lee, Jinkook & Meijer, Erik, 2020. "The gender gap in education and late-life cognition: Evidence from multiple countries and birth cohorts," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 16(C).
    4. Lee, Jinkook & Smith, James P., 2014. "Regional disparities in adult height, educational attainment, and late-life cognition: Findings from the Longitudinal Aging Study in India (LASI)," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 4(C), pages 26-34.
    5. Dobrescu, L.I. & Smith, J.P., 2016. "The HRS Around the World Surveys," Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, in: Piggott, John & Woodland, Alan (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 993-1018, Elsevier.
    6. LaFave, Daniel & Thomas, Duncan, 2017. "Height and cognition at work: Labor market productivity in a low income setting," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 52-64.
    7. repec:rom:campco:v:9:y:2013:i:1:p:113-126 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Osea Giuntella & Wei Han & Fabrizio Mazzonna, 2017. "Circadian Rhythms, Sleep, and Cognitive Skills: Evidence From an Unsleeping Giant," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(5), pages 1715-1742, October.
    9. Yanan Huang & Xu Li & Guangsheng Zhang, 2021. "The Impact of Technology Perception and Government Support on E-Commerce Sales Behavior of Farmer Cooperatives: Evidence From Liaoning Province, China," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(2), pages 21582440211, June.
    10. Li, Qin & Smith, James P. & Zhao, Yaohui, 2023. "Understanding the effects of widowhood on health in China: Mechanisms and heterogeneity," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 25(C).
    11. Jingyi Wang & Jing Guan & Guojun Wang, 2023. "Impact of long‐term care insurance on the health status of middle‐aged and older adults," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(3), pages 558-573, March.
    12. Woojin Chung & Roeul Kim, 2020. "Which Occupation is Highly Associated with Cognitive Impairment? A Gender-Specific Longitudinal Study of Paid and Unpaid Occupations in South Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-17, October.
    13. Lilah M. Besser & Willa D. Brenowitz & Oanh L. Meyer & Serena Hoermann & John Renne, 2021. "Methods to Address Self-Selection and Reverse Causation in Studies of Neighborhood Environments and Brain Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(12), pages 1-19, June.
    14. Lei, Xiaoyan & Smith, James P. & Sun, Xiaoting & Zhao, Yaohui, 2014. "Gender differences in cognition in China and reasons for change over time: Evidence from CHARLS," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 4(C), pages 46-55.
    15. repec:rom:campco:v:9:y:2013:i:1:p:127-138 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Shu, Lei, 2018. "The effect of the New Rural Social Pension Insurance program on the retirement and labor supply decision in China," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 12(C), pages 135-150.
    17. Rafael Novella & Javier Olivera, 2019. "Gender Differences in Cognitive Abilities Among the Elderly Poor of Peru," Revista Economía, Fondo Editorial - Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, vol. 42(83), pages 95-109.
    18. Jiyuan Wang & Rob Alessie & Viola Angelini, 2023. "Exposure in utero to adverse events and health late‐in‐life: Evidence from China," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(3), pages 541-557, March.
    19. Yu, Dandan & Fiebig, Denzil G., 2020. "Internet use and cognition among middle-aged and older adults in China: A cross-lagged panel analysis," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 17(C).
    20. Smith, James P. & Strauss, John & Zhao, Yaohui, 2014. "Healthy aging in China," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 4(C), pages 37-43.
    21. Nie, Peng & Peng, Xu & Luo, Tianyuan, 2023. "Internet use and fertility behavior among reproductive-age women in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    22. Yaqin Zhong & Hanqing Xi & Xiaojun Guo & Tiantian Wang & Yanan Wang & Jian Wang, 2022. "Gender and Socioeconomic Differences in the Prevalence and Patterns of Multimorbidity among Middle-Aged and Older Adults in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-11, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:10:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-023-02311-8. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.nature.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.