Life-Sustaining Durable Medical Equipment Use among patients in Kaiser Permanente Southern California
Between 2012 and 2050 the number of individuals aged 65 and older in the U.S. will nearly double to 83.7 million. A growing portion of these individuals will age in place, receiving home healthcare rather than moving into a nursing home or other long-term care facility. These living arrangements promote independence and autonomy but potentially also elevate risk of adverse health outcomes related to power outages. Therefore, we will identify and characterize the population dependent on life-sustaining in-home electric durable medical equipment (DME) from 2008-2018.