Disabilities and Care Needs among Older People: Evidence from Vietnam

Abstract

The article¹ presents the results of a scientific study on disability among elderly people (aged 60 and older) based on data from “The Vietnam National Disability Survey 2016 (VNDS 2016)”, which was the most recent publicly available data at the time of our analysis. The aim of the study was to analyze the need for care among elderly individuals with disabilities². The findings indicate that approximately 10% of elderly people in Vietnam require care, which is equivalent to about 1.2 million individuals. The proportion of those in need of care is 29% among elderly people with disabilities and 53.8% among those with severe disabilities. Additionally, we found that 31% and 12% of elderly individuals live with moderate and severe disabilities, respectively. These figures are significantly higher than the disability rates officially recognized by local authorities.

The results of probit and logit regressions show that disability is more prevalent among elderly individuals and women. There is a strong negative correlation between education and disability, as well as between socioeconomic status and disability. This study provides several policy recommendations for modifying Vietnam’s existing social protection system.