FACTORS RELATED TO COPING WITH PHYSICAL AND INSTRUMENTAL ACTIVITIES OF DAILY LIVING AMONG PEOPLE BORN IN 1904-1923

Functional ability is affected by a number of different factors, inclu ding biological ageing, illness, and living environment. This study wa s concerned with the connections of functional ability with mood and c ognitive capacity in elderly individuals. It forms part of a cross-sec tional study which was carried out in 1988, involving two random sampl es of 800 non-institutionalized persons born in 1904-1913 and 1914-192 3. Functional ability tests included 18 questions; eight concerned cop ing with physical activities of daily living (PADL) and 10 instrumenta l activities of daily living (IADL). Depressive symptoms and cognitive capacity were examined by tests. In addition, there was a set of ques tions concerning health status and socioeconomic situation. Regression models (LISREL) were used to identify factors associated with PADL an d IADL activities. In the younger age group, 68% of the men and 65% of the women had no difficulty in coping with PADL activities. The figur es for the older group were 58% and 37%, respectively. Difficulties we re reported more frequently with IADL activities. In the older age gro up 17% of the men and 10% of the women coped with no difficulty. In al l activities difficulties tended to increase with age, and more so amo ng women than men. The explanatory factors that emerged from the regre ssion models as most significant were the number of chronic illnesses, the number of depressive symptoms and cognitive capacity.