Profile and correlates of functional status in elderly patients presenting at a primary care clinic in Nigeria

• Published in: African journal of primary health care & family medicine Vol. 7; no. 1; pp. 1 - 7
• Main Authors: Ajayi, Samuel A, Adebusoye, Lawrence A, Ogunbode, Adetola M, Akinyemi, Joshua O, Adebayo, Ayodeji M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: South Africa African Online Scientific Information Systems (Pty) Ltd t/a AOSIS 01.01.2015; AOSIS OpenJournals; AOSIS Publishing; AOSIS
• Subjects: Activities of daily living; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Ambulatory care facilities; Biology; Cross-Sectional Studies; Elderly patients; Female; Geriatric Assessment - statistics & numerical data; Health aspects; Health Care Sciences & Services; Humans; Male; Medical research; Medicine, General & Internal; Middle Aged; Nigeria; Original Research; Polygamy; Primary Health Care; Surveys and Questionnaires; Nigeria
• ISSN: 2071-2928; 2071-2936; 2071-2936
• DOI: 10.4102/phcfm.v7i1.810

Assessing the functional status of elderly patients is central in measuring their health outcome. Little is known about the functional status of elderly patients attending our primary care clinic in Nigeria. To assess the correlates of functional status in elderly patients presenting at the General Outpatient Clinic of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria. A cross-sectional study of 360 randomly selected patients aged 60 years and above was undertaken to assess their functional status by scoring their basic activities of daily living (BADL) using the Modified Bathel Index. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to obtain the socio-demographic data, anthropometric measurements and morbidities of each patient. The mean age was 69.1 ± 6.6 years with a female-to-male ratio of 1.9: 1. The prevalence of overall functional disability (defined as when assistance was sought in the performance of at least one of the components of BADL) was 88.3%. The highest prevalence of functional disability was experienced in the area of personal hygiene and grooming (95.3%) and transferring from bed to chair (95.3%). Overall functional disability significantly increased with increasing age (χ2 for trend=14.004, p < 0.0001), living in a polygamous family unit (p = 0.025), and lack of formal education (p = 0.020). Functional disability was high amongst the elderly in this setting. Age, education, and living in a polygamous type of family unit had significant influence on the functional status. High premium should, therefore, be placed on considering these factors in reducing functional disability in the elderly.