BACKGROUND

Different activity restrictions in older adults are caused by various factors and these can lead to a lower quality of life. The determination of these factors will provide baseline data in the local setting to help health care workers identify which are significantly associated with daily activity restriction. 

OBJECTIVES

To determine the different factors such as age, sex, living arrangement, educational level, more than one hospitalization per year, multimorbidity, polypharmacy, dementia risk, depression, malnutrition, history of fall, visual, and hearing impairment, bladder, and bowel incontinence; if significant association exist between these factors and the development of restriction on activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). Also, to determine the most common ADL and IADL restricted activities among older adults. 

METHODS

Five hundred forty (540) patients aged 60 and above were interviewed where 270 participants were included in the study through systemic random sampling. The different factors and activity restrictions were collected through one time interview using questionnaires (MGS, AD8, Katz and Lawton scale). Data collected were analyzed and interpreted using t -test, chi square and odds ratio.

RESULTS

The significant factors associated with both ADL and IADL restriction are age (p = .011; p = <0.001), visual impairment (p = 0.01; p = 0.042), bladder incontinence (p = 0.002; p = 0.018) and bowel incontinence (p = 0.01; p = 0.033). Lower educational level (p = 0.032) and fall history (p = 0.036) are significantly associated with IADL restriction, while depression (p = 0.0109) is significantly associated with ADL restriction. For ADL, the most restricted activity is continence control followed by dressing, bathing, eating, and transferring. In terms of IADL, the most restricted activity is doing house works, followed by doing laundry, travelling beyond walking distance, handling finances and shopping.

CONCLUSION

Older adults with more advanced age, visual impairment, bladder, and bowel incontinence are significantly associated with both ADL and IADL, indicating that health related conditions affect mobility. Lower educational level is associated with IADL restriction possibly because IADL activities are more complex and require thinking. Fall history is also significantly associated with IADL restriction because visual problems can affect balance and spatial awareness while depression is significantly associated with ADL due to lower quality of life. 

Human ; Activities Of Daily Living