Exploration of subjective well-being and dependence in daily activities atthe beginning of the geriatric rehabilitation process: a challenge to traditional goal-setting and evaluation procedures?

The objectives of this study were to describe a population of elderly patie nts at the beginning of their rehabilitation period as regards subjective w ell-being and dependence in activities of daily living (ADL). In a Swedish rural county 244 patients aged 65 + who had begun rehabilitation within the last month were targeted. One part of the self-administered Goteborg Quali ty of Life Instrument and a revised version of the ADL Staircase were used. No correlation was found between subjective well-being and ADL dependence. However, significant correlations between ADL dependence and separate subj ective well-being items were found in three out of 17, i.e. the items 'ener gy', 'leisure', and 'sense of significance and appreciation outside home'. Overall subjective well-being did not show any gender differences, but sign ificant gender differences due to the distribution of scores was shown; fem ales scored the items 'health', 'sleeping', and 'economy' as bad to a large r extent than males. Males were significantly more dependent than females i n three out of nine ADL: 'going to the toilet', 'dressing', and 'cooking'. Additional knowledge of subjective well-being and ADL dependence at the beg inning of the rehabilitation process challenges the traditional goal-settin g and evaluation procedures of geriatric rehabilitation services. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.