Cognitive Limitations and Long-Term Care Use in the Netherlands: Evidence from the Lifelines Cohort Study
We analyze the association between cognitive impairments and long-term care use in the 65+ population in the Netherlands. For this, we use data from the Lifelines Cohort Study that are linked to administrative records available through Statistics Netherlands. We find that, among those with cognitive impairments, long-term care use is concentrated in a subgroup: 42% of those with cognitive impairments do not use any long-term care. At the same time, individuals with cognitive impairments who use long-term care have high expenditures, in particular when living in nursing homes. Further analyses reveal that many individuals with cognitive impairments report functional limitations and that cognitive impairment is associated with long-term care use above and beyond these impairments. These findings highlight the importance of taking cognitive impairments into account when seeking to explain the determinants of long-term care use in research and when tailoring long-term care programs to the needs of the elderly when considering policy reforms.
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Copy CitationGaia Bagnasco, Pieter Bakx, Stijn Coremans, and Bram Wouterse, "Cognitive Limitations and Long-Term Care Use in the Netherlands: Evidence from the Lifelines Cohort Study," NBER Working Paper 35538 (2026), https://doi.org/10.3386/w35538.Download Citation