Assistive Device Rental/Purchase, LTC Service Use, and Caregiver Burden in Taiwan

August 19, 2026 updated by: National Health Research Institutes, Taiwan

The Association Between Assistive Device Approval, Rental or Purchase Types, Long-Term Care Service Utilization, and Family Caregiver Burden in Taiwan: A Secondary Data Analysis of the Long-Term Care Service Database

The goal of this observational study is to examine the associations between assistive device approval and acquisition modality (rental or purchase), long-term care service utilization, and family caregiver burden among individuals receiving long-term care services in Taiwan. The study will use de-identified nationwide long-term care administrative data from 2021 to 2022.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

  1. What individual, disability-related, socioeconomic, residential, and caregiving factors are associated with assistive device approval, the number and type of approved devices, and rental or purchase modality?
  2. Are assistive device approval and utilization patterns associated with the use of formal long-term care services and with family caregiver burden?

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

161771

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • Taiwan
    • Yunlin County
      • Huwei, Yunlin County, Taiwan, 632007
        • National Center for Geriatrics and Welfare Research, National Health Research Institutes
        • Contact:
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

The study population will consist of individuals represented in Taiwan's nationwide long-term care administrative databases from 2021 to 2022. Eligible individuals must have a valid long-term care case record (CA100) and at least one valid linked assessment or care plan record (CA110). De-identified records will be used to examine assistive device approval and acquisition patterns, long-term care service utilization, and family caregiver-related characteristics and burden. No participants will be directly recruited or contacted.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Individuals with a valid long-term care case record (CA100) in Taiwan's long-term care database between 2021 and 2022.
  • Individuals with at least one valid assessment or care plan record (CA110) that can be linked to the corresponding CA100 record.
  • Availability of interpretable key study variables, including individual and assessment/care plan identifiers, care plan status, and Case-Mix System (CMS) level or other core disability-related information.
  • For analyses of assistive device utilization, the presence or absence of an assistive device record (QD113) and its approval status must be identifiable.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Records with missing key linkage variables that prevent establishment of relationships among individuals, care plans, assistive device records, or service utilization records.
  • Records identified as invalid, cancelled, test records, or records whose validity cannot be determined.
  • Records in which primary study variables cannot be interpreted.
  • Records with clearly implausible values for variables such as individual age, caregiver age, CMS level, number of assistive devices, or service utilization that cannot be corrected according to prespecified data-cleaning rules.
  • Records with inconsistent or contradictory date information that prevents valid determination of an index date or observation period.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Assistive device approved
Participants who was approved the assistive devise in nationwide long-term care administrative data in Taiwan
No assistive device approved
Participants who was not approved the assistive devise in nationwide long-term care administrative data in Taiwan

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Assistive Device Approval Status
Time Frame: During the 2021-2022 observation period
Whether an individual had an approved assistive device record, determined using the approval status recorded in the Assistive Technology File (QD113). Associations with disability severity, sociodemographic characteristics, residential characteristics, and caregiving conditions will be examined.
During the 2021-2022 observation period
Formal Long-Term Care Service Utilization
Time Frame: During the 2021-2022 observation period
Utilization of formal long-term care services, including total service utilization and category-specific utilization of care services, professional services, transportation, respite care, meal services, and other long-term care services. Associations with assistive device approval, number of devices, acquisition modality, and device category will be examined.
During the 2021-2022 observation period
Family Caregiver Burden
Time Frame: During the 2021-2022 observation period
Family caregiver burden will be assessed using available administrative-record indicators, including sleep disturbance, physical burden, competing caregiving demands, distress related to care-recipient behaviors, and inability to cope with caregiving stress. A cumulative caregiver burden indicator will also be derived from the number of burden items endorsed.
During the 2021-2022 observation period

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Assistive Device Acquisition Modality
Time Frame: During the 2021-2022 observation period
Acquisition modality of approved assistive devices, categorized as rental or purchase according to the Assistive Technology File (QD113) administrative record. Factors associated with rental versus purchase will be examined.
During the 2021-2022 observation period
Number and Category of Approved Assistive Devices
Time Frame: During the 2021-2022 observation period
Number of approved assistive devices and device categories, such as mobility, transfer, bathing and toileting, home-care beds and bedside equipment, safety or monitoring devices, and communication or cognitive support devices.
During the 2021-2022 observation period

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

National Health Research Institutes, Taiwan

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Chueh-Ho Lin, PhD, National Health Research Institutes, Taiwan

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

September 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

August 31, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

August 31, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 19, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 19, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

August 24, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

August 24, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 19, 2026

Last Verified

June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • EC1150701-E

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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