Socio-economic and Lifestyle Determinants of Functional Capacity of the Senior Attendees of an Outpatient Clinic in Northern Nigeria: A Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND

Typical ageing changes and the associated health concerns frequently manifest themselves as reduction in their efficiency and functional capacity.

OBJECTIVE

To identify the socioeconomic and lifestyle determinants of the functional capacity of elderly patients.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study involving 329 patients aged ≥ 60 years who presented to the General Outpatient Clinic. Data on socioeconomic, lifestyle, and functional capacity were collected. The functional capacity was assessed by the self-reported questionnaires: the Lawton and Katz indexes for the activity of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activity of daily living (IADL) respectively. The chi-square test and logistic regression analysis were used to determine associations between the variables. The level of significance was set at a p-value ≤ 0.05.

RESULTS

A total of 312 respondents completed the study, with 59.6% females and a mean age of 67.67 ± 7.69 years. The majority of the respondents (76.3%) belong to the low socioeconomic status (classes V and VI). The prevalence of functional dependence was 21.5% and 44.2% for ADL and IADL respectively. The disability in continence and food preparation had the highest prevalence among the components of ADL and IADL respectively. Advancing age, Hausa/Fulani tribe, polygamy, poor social support, and chronic pain were the determinants of functional dependence in ADL while age, female gender, marital status, and Fulani tribe were the determinants of functional dependence in IADL among the respondents.

UNLABELLED

CONCLUSION: The identified determinants of functional capacity among the older persons should be considered when assessing their functional capacity in the primary care or similar settings.