Most older people independent in self-care
Tue Sep 29 2015 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)
Most older people independent in self-care
29 September 2015
Professor Ngaire Kerse
Most people in advanced age can do basic daily self-care activities, according to the latest research from the University of Auckland.
The study showed that 95 percent of people in advanced age were independent in self-cares such as feeding oneself, personal care, going to the toilet, and getting in and out of bed.
The data comes from the Life and living in Advanced Age: A Cohort Study in New Zealand (LILACS NZ*) carried out by researchers at the University’s School of Population Health.
“While most people manage very well, this study shows that assistance with housework, shopping and washing were commonly needed to support independent living”. Says Professor Ngaire Kerse, who has led the study since its inception in 2010.
In this study, data was gathered in face to face, standardised interviews with Māori aged 80 to 90 years and non-Māori aged 85 years, at home with nursing assessments of physical function and health.
A majority of people in advanced age (67 percent) were also able to carry out activities for independent living.
These included; walking around outside, making a hot drink, carrying hot drinks from one room to another, doing housework, going shopping, doing a full clothes wash, and using the telephone.
The report noted that independence in advanced daily activities was significantly higher in women than men.
There was no significant difference by socio-economic deprivation, or between Māori and non-Māori, in being able to perform advanced daily activities independently.
People in advanced age received support with some advanced daily activities - mainly for help with housework.
Across the advanced daily activities, 39 percent of people were independent in all seven, 27 percent were independent in six and the remainder were independent in fewer with three percent independent in only one activity or none at all.
More than 90 percent of people were independent in walking around outside, making a hot drink, or carrying hot drinks from one room to another.
The most common advanced daily activities that people in advanced age received support with were housework (50 percent); shopping (29 percent) and doing a full clothes wash (27 percent).
More information:
- The LiLACS NZ sample lives within the boundaries of the Bay of Plenty and Lakes District Health Boards, excluding the Taupo region of Lakes DHB.
- The participants were first interviewed and assessed in 2010 (the ‘first wave’ of data collection). This is a longitudinal study with annual data collection, subject to mortality and participant retention.
- The independence in daily activities data reported on is from 671 participants who completed the full questionnaire.
- Participants were asked, for both basic daily activities and advanced daily activities, whether they did the activity on their own or on their own with difficulty (scored as 1), or with help from another person or did not do the activity at all (scored as 0).
- The basic daily activities questions on feeding oneself, personal care, going to the toilet and getting in and out of bed, were adapted from the Barthel Index.
- Advanced daily activities were assessed by asking all full participants about seven of the activities from the Nottingham Extended Activities of Daily Living (NEADL)4 scale - being able to walk around outside, make a hot drink, carry hot drinks from one room to another, do housework, go shopping, do a full clothes wash, and use the telephone.
For the full report, Independence in daily activities in advanced age: Findings from LiLACS NZ, please go to this link …
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