Functional disabilities and its associated factors among elderly patients in primary care clinics

Introduction: Identification of risk factors associated with functional disability among elderly population is important in order to improve their quality of life. Objective: To study the functional disability among elderly population in primary care clinics and its relation to their socio-demographic and health related risk factors. Material and Method: A cross sectional study was conducted among elderly in three primary care clinics in Kuantan, Pahang Malaysia in assessing the functional disability and its associated risk factors. The respondents were selected through convenient sampling technique and interviewed them by using reconstructed standardized questionnaire which includes social-demographic background, medical illness, ability to perform basic activities of daily living (ADL), cognitive function and depression assessment. Results: Out of 600 elderly that attended the clinics from 1st December 2006 to 31st January 2007, 182(30.3%) respondents agreed to be enrolled in the study. The respondents were Malay (93.4%), females (54.4%) and married (71.4%) elderly. Most of them were living with their family (92.3%), received formal education (64.8%) and had no past history of recent hospital admission (81.3%). Their average monthly per capita income was RM 250. Most respondents (90.7%) suffered from chronic illness, 19.8% were functional dependent (according to Barthel index), 15.4% had cognitive impairment (according ECAQ) and 17.0% had depression (according to GDS-14). The most common functional dependence was climbing stairs (45.6%). This study revealed that functional disabilities were found significantly associated with increasing age {OR: 1.139, 95%CI (1.043, 1.244)}, females {OR: 3.366, 95%CI (1.239, 9.141)}, living alone {OR: 8.039, 95%CI (2.002, 32.277)}, history of hospital admission {OR: 8.889, 95%CI (3.145, 25.127)} and depression {OR: 6.017, 95%CI (2.222, 16.298)}. Conclusion: The elderly patients with increasing age, females, living alone, history of recent hospital admission and depression tend to have a high risk to suffer from functional disabilities