Study on activities of daily living disability in community-dwelling older adults in China

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the disability status and its epidemiological characteristics in the elderly in urban and rural communities in China. Methods: The participants were from the project of Prevention and Intervention on Neurodegenerative Disease for Elderly in China conducted in 2015. A total of 23 803 urban and rural residents aged over 60 years were selected through stratified multi-stage cluster sampling in 6 provinces for a set of standardized questionnaire interview and physical examinations. Activities of daily living (ADL) scale was used to assess the disability status of the elderly. χ(2) test was used to analyze the difference in basic activities of daily living (BADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) disabilities in different elderly populations. Multivariate logistic regression model was used to analyze the influence factors for disability. Results: Taking bath had the highest impairment rate (1.7%) while eating had the lowest impairment rate (0.6%) in BADL. Making phone call had the highest impairment rate (16.6%), followed by taking bus (5.5%) and taking medicine (1.8%) in IADL. The BADL and IADL disability rates in community seniors were 2.1% and 19.1%, respectively. BADL disability rate was higher in females, the widowed, illiterate, the elderly with low body weight or obesity (P<0.05). IADL disability rate was higher in females, rural residents, the widowed, the elderly with lower educational level or lower body weight (P<0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that risk for BADL disability increased with age and abnormal BMI, and decreased with the increase of education level. The risk factors for IADL disability included being female, age, rural residence, being widowed and low BMI. The risk for IADL disability was lower in those with higher education level and overweight or obesity. Conclusion: The present study showed that the disability rate was high in the elderly in China, which was influenced by the aging and multi demographic characteristics of the elderly. It is important to strengthen the prevention of BADL and IADL disabilities and intervention in the elderly.