Living arrangements and fire-related mortality amongst older people in Europe |
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| Authors: | Finn Nilson Linnea Lundgren Carl Bonander |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Political, Historical, Religious and Cultural Studies, Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden;2. Centre for Societal Risk Research, Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden finn.nilson@kau.se;4. Institute of Civil Society Research, Ersta Sk?ndal Br?cke University College, Stockholm, Sweden;5. Centre for Societal Risk Research, Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden;6. Health Economics and Policy, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden |
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| Abstract: | Abstract In Europe, a demographic transition has occurred meaning that countries have larger older adult populations who are increasingly living alone and receiving homecare rather than institutional care. Given that living alone is the greatest individual risk factor for fire mortality amongst older adults and that large differences exist in terms of both fire mortality risk and living arrangements between countries, this study investigates the association between co-living rates and fire mortality rates among older adults in Europe. Freely available datasets with aggregated European data on fire mortality, living arrangements among older adults, population statistics and GDP were analyzed using Poisson regression models. The results show that fire-related mortality rates amongst older adults in Europe is correlated with living arrangements after adjusting for GDP. Specifically, in Europe, when the share of older adults living alone increases by one percentage point, fire mortality rates increase by roughly 4 percent for both sexes. |
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| Keywords: | Individualism elderly injury fire |
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