Association of comorbidities with Activity of Daily Living (ADL) in a community-based sample of older adults in Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

BackgroundAgeing is a normal, natural, unavoidable and a widespread phenomenon. As an outcome of ageing, there are physical, functional, and structural changes taking place in various parts of the human body, hence an aged person is found to be more vulnerable.This study was conducted to assess the activities of daily living and the association between the socio-demographic variables, and co-morbidities among the elderly from the selected areas of Tamil Nadu. Materials and methodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among the homebound aged category in Tamil Nadu. A list of rural block details were obtained from the selected districts, and by using the lottery method, one rural block was selected from each district and a complete enumeration sampling strategy was employed to obtain the study subjects from the selected study area. Through extensive literature reviews, the study tool was structured. ResultAbout seven thousand two hundred participants over the age of 60 years from the households were interviewed. About 71.36% of the subjects belonged to the 60–69 age group. The majority of the study population was conducted among the females (61.76%) and the rest of the 38.24% constituted the males. A significant statistical association was noted between age, good sleep, and activity limitation. An individual who is aged 70 and above had 4.1 times higher risk of activity limitation than an elder person under 70. The elders who had sufficient good sleep were found to be a protective factor for activity limitation. There is no significant association between gender, smoking, tobacco, alcohol consumption, good sleep, with activity limitation. ConclusionThis study shows that the prevalence of activity limitation is 4.1% among the rural elderly of Tamil Nadu. Disability is one of the major factors among the elderly to result in an activity of daily living dependence; Activity of Daily Living (ADL), and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) is becoming a big challenge for the community residing elderly, irrespective of whether their needs are met or unmet. As the elderly population continues to grow, the challenges involved in addressing disability and unmet needs also tend to grow.