FACTORS AFFECTING INSUFFICIENCY IN ACTIVITY DAILY LIVING IN THE ELDERLY

Background In a ''case-control'' study we investigated the correl lati ons among twenty-four clinical signs of ''functional impairment'' and probability of ''activity daily living insufficiency''. Methods. The s tudy involved 788 randomised inpatients, aged 65 years and over, of ni neteen long-stay hospitals of an Italian region (Lazio, Rome), We meas ured self care autonomy, mobility and continence, on a modified Barthe l's scale; the score on Barthel's scale, Barthel Index (BI), was corre lated to twenty-four signs of ''functional impairment'' (explicative v ariables), Of these variables entered in stepwise regression only ''co gnitive impairment'' (coef. B-22), ''paralysis'' (coef. B-21), ''body weight reduction over 10 kg vs ideal weight'' (coef. B-12), ''joint de formation'' (coef. B-7) and ''visual impairment'' (coef. B-5), Insuffi ciency in daily living is defined by BI<100. The presence of these fiv e clinical signs leads to the likelihood of ''activity dally living in sufficiency'' to 0.996, The trend of cognitive impairment to rise with age could be responsible for the inverse regression between age and B I, Results, There was no significant correlation between BI and sex, H earing impairment, serum creatinine level greater than or equal to 4 m g/dl, bronchospasm, obstructive and restrictive ventilation disorders, precordial pain on stress or spontaneous and dyspnea are not signific antly correlated to the Barthel Index Score and to the likelihood of i nsufficiency in daily living activity.