Risk factors in eighty-plus year-olds living at home: an investigation of a Danish community

A series of risk factors involving the health of the elderly were investigated among persons aged eighty years and older living at home in the community of Holbaek, Denmark. The investigation included a total of 459 participants, 84 percent of this age group. After a two-year period of observation, it was found that 75 percent were still living at home, less than 1 percent were hospitalized, 10 percent had moved to nursing homes, and 14 percent had died. A total of 62 percent had lived at home during the entire period without hospitalization. By means of comparing conditions of health in 1977 and subsequently in 1979, it is possible to point out a series of predictors which are statistically significant but of limited clinical value. The article concludes that it is scarcely possible to achieve more in the prophylaxis of acute breakdown in the life of the old people with the present Danish health policy. Two possibilities were suggested: twenty-four-hour care services, or strengthening of the informal social network.