Investigation of Functional Independence and Its Related Factors in Older Adults

Elderly people are exposed to potential threats, such as physical and mental disabilities, which overwhelm their functional independence and their daily activities. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the functional independence of elderly patients referred to West Health Center in Tehran, Iran.

This descriptive-cross sectional study was conducted on 200 elderly people referred to West Health Center in Tehran during 2017. The participants were selected using the convenience sampling method. The data were collected utilizing an Abbreviated Mental Test, a demographic form, and the Barthel index to investigate the elderly functional independence. The data were analyzed in SPSS software (version. 20) through one way ANOVA, independent t-test, and Pearson correlation coefficient. P-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.  

According to the results, the mean±SD age of the elderly participated in this study was (64.53±3.95), and 51% of the participants were female. About 95.5% of the elderly had complete independence for their daily activities. However, 4% and 0.5% of them had partial and moderate dependencies, respectively. Moreover, there was a reverse relationship between age and functional independence (P<0.001, r=-0.345). However, functional independence correlated significantly with educational level, marital status, hypertension, and joint pains (P<0.05).

According to the results, a majority of the elderly people has been independent in their daily activities; however, aging correlated with reduced levels of independence. Therefore, regarding holistic care in clinical nursing services, it is necessary to pay attention and develop programs to support the elderly in order to promote their health and provide the concept of "healthy and active aging".