ASSESSMENT OF THE FUNCTIONAL STATUS OF ELDERLY SUBJECTS IN QASSIM REGION, SAUDI-ARABIA

A cross-sectional study was carried out on a sample of elderly subject s aged 65 years and above, resident in Qassim region, in central Saudi Arabia. The sample size was 266 subjects (12%). The study objective w as to assess the subjects' functional activities in the form of Activi ties of Daily Living (ADL) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL). Wadu, the Muslim tradition of washing before the main five da ily prayers was included in the ADL. The results showed that impairmen t of ADL, ADL and Wadu, and IADL was observed in 12.4%, 7.9% and 54.4% of subjects. Advancing age and female gender were found to be negativ ely, while male gender and having an occupation were found to be posit ively associated with functional activity.