Self-Neglect among Empty-Nester Elderly in China: Status and Influencing Factors

In China, empty nester elderly refers to older adults whose children have left home and who live alone ‎or only with a spouse. With the country’s rapidly aging population, this group is expanding, posing ‎new challenges for public health and social care. Self-neglect, which is defined as the intentional or ‎unintentional failure to maintain adequate self-care and health management, leading to risks in medical ‎care, hygiene, and safety, is a critical but underexplored issue. This study examined the prevalence ‎and predictors of self-neglect in an urban Chinese sample. Using a descriptive-correlational survey, ‎‎184 empty-nestr elderly were randomly selected. Data on demographic characteristics, self-care ‎ability, social support, and self-neglect were collected using standardized scales. Analyses included ‎descriptive statistics and stepwise multiple regression. Findings show that the participants were ‎predominantly female, aged 60–70 years, with junior high school education, married, and retired from ‎farming. Most had 1–2 children, monthly per capita incomes of 1,000–2,000 CNY (≈139–278 USD), ‎and received weekly visits from children. Social support was mainly from acquaintances and friends, ‎with limited family support. Self-neglect levels were relatively high, particularly in healthcare ‎behaviors and living environment hygiene. Regression analysis showed that lower income, less ‎frequent children’s visits (every two weeks vs. weekly), enterprise occupation, unmarried status, and ‎higher self-care ability scores were associated with greater self-neglect, while having 1–2 chronic ‎diseases predicted lower self-neglect. The model explained 37.4% of the variance. These findings ‎underscore the need for targeted health promotion and wellness programs for empty nester elderly, ‎emphasizing social support, economic stability, and proactive monitoring by geriatric care ‎professionals‎.