Dignity Among Older Persons in Long-Term Care Institutions in Taiwan and Related Factors: A Cross-Sectional Study.
Yu-Chi Li, Yi-Shin Lin, Shu-Ching Ma and 2 others
PMID 41805830WHAT IT FOUND
48.9% of 188 older residents in southern Taiwan long-term care institutions reported low dignity.
Fewer or no children, lower daily living independence, inability to walk, higher education, and depression were associated with low dignity.
Key findings
0148.9% of participants had low dignity, defined as a PDI-MV score of 35 or higher.
02Lower Barthel Index scores, higher PHQ-9 scores, fewer or no children, inability to walk, and higher education were associated with low dignity.
03Loss of autonomy and symptom distress were the PDI-MV dimensions with the highest item mean scores.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The sample was a convenience sample from seven full-day long-term care institutions in southern Taiwan, so it may not apply to other regions or to home or community-based care. People with dementia, delusion, other organic brain disease, impaired consciousness, or incapacity were excluded, so findings do not cover residents with those conditions. Data were collected at one point, so the study cannot show what causes low dignity or how dignity changes over time. The study was done during the post-COVID-19 pandemic, and institutional policy, health care, and social interaction changes may have affected dignity perceptions. The study included few participants with depression, so the depression association rests on a small group.
Declared interests
The paper states funding by the Taiwan Nurses Association. No other conflicts of interest are reported in the supplied text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the associations as proof that increasing family contact, improving mobility, reducing depression, or changing education will improve dignity. This was a cross-sectional survey, so it cannot show cause or treatment effect.