Institutionalization and the elderly: international comparisons.

This paper is an exploratory attempt to examine international differences in the proportion of old people living in non-private households. The aim of the study was to provoke further discussion of the role which institutions play in the care of the elderly in various settings and to examine the effect of certain demographic and economic parameters on the proportion of elderly people in non-private households. Data were drawn from national censuses and indirect standardization was used to allow comparison of the probability of institutionalization in the countries considered. Considerable variation in standardized institutionalization ratios was found but this variation was not significantly associated with any of the demographic or economic variables considered.