The Effect of Orientation Program Based on the Activities of Daily Living on Stress, Anxiety and Depression in the Elderly

This study aimed to analyze the effect of the Orientation Program based on Activitiesof Daily Living on depression, anxiety, and stress in the elderly. This is an experimental study on 65 elderly individuals living in 5 nursing homes inTehran in 2017 for 6 months (May to October). Samples were selected using non-random availablesampling methods and randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. Demographicinformation questionnaire and 21-item version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS- 21)were used. The elderly in the intervention group were subjected to the Orientation Program based onActivities of Daily Living for 6 one-hour sessions for 1 month. DASS- 21 was measured before theintervention, one month and two months after the intervention. Data were analyzed using SPSS V.24 and Independent T-test, Mann-Whitney, Chi-Square and repeated measure ANOVA tests with asignificance level of P<0.05. The results showed differences between the two groups regarding depression, anxiety, andstress one month after the intervention (P=0.003, P=0.005 and P<001, respectively). One month afterthe intervention, the mean scores of depression, anxiety, and stress in the intervention group decreasedto 8±4.54, 4.5±3.09 and 7.53±5.42, respectively, and two months after the intervention, they decreasedto 8.25±4.44, 4.71±3.05 and 8.21±5.71, respectively. According to the results, the Orientation Program based on Activities of Daily Living iseffective on depression, anxiety, and stress in the elderly. Considering the instability of the interventionon the depression variable, further studies and long-term interventions are recommended.