The determinants of long-term care expenditure and their interactions

Objective: A cross-sectional study was conducted to examine the factors associated with long-term care (LTC) expenditure among LTC service users in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. Method: Using descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression analysis, we investigated the associations of gender, dementia, service type, and other factors with LTC expenditure. Result: Our regression analysis showed that older age, women, and higher care needs levels were significantly associated with higher LTC expenditure. Furthermore, women who used home care and community-based/other care services had higher expenditures than men who used the same services. In contrast, men who used facility care services had higher expenditures than women. Service users with dementia were also found to be significantly associated with higher LTC expenditure. Conclusion: There is a need for policy interventions that focus on gender differences and dementia when developing care service plans to ensure the sustainability of the LTC system.