Prevalence and correlates of physical disability and functional limitation among community dwelling older people in rural Malaysia, a middle income country

BMC Public Health

Research Article

Vasi Naganathan¹  Awang Bulgiba²  Noran N Hairi³  Izzuna Mudla⁴  Robert G Cumming⁵ 

[1] Centre for Education and Research on Ageing, Concord Hospital, Australia;Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University Malaya, Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia;Julius Centre University of Malaya, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia;Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University Malaya, Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia;School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia;Julius Centre University of Malaya, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia;Ministry of Health, Malaysia;School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia;Centre for Education and Research on Ageing, Concord Hospital, Australia;ANZAC Research Institute, Concord Hospital, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia;

关键词: Functional Limitation;    Physical Disability;    Barthel Index;    Prevalence Ratio;    Disability Prevalence;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-10-492

 received in 2010-05-12, accepted in 2010-08-18,  发布年份 2010

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe prevalence and correlates of physical disability and functional limitation among older people have been studied in many developed countries but not in a middle income country such as Malaysia. The present study investigated the epidemiology of physical disability and functional limitation among older people in Malaysia and compares findings to other countries.MethodsA population-based cross sectional study was conducted in Alor Gajah, Malacca. Seven hundred and sixty five older people aged 60 years and above underwent tests of functional limitation (Tinetti Performance Oriented Mobility Assessment Tool). Data were also collected for self reported activities of daily living (ADL) using the Barthel Index (ten items). To compare prevalence with other studies, ADL disability was also defined using six basic ADL's (eating, bathing, dressing, transferring, toileting and walking) and five basic ADL's (eating, bathing, dressing, transferring and toileting).ResultsTen, six and five basic ADL disability was reported by 24.7% (95% CI 21.6-27.9), 14.4% (95% CI 11.9-17.2) and 10.6% (95% CI 8.5-13.1), respectively. Functional limitation was found in 19.5% (95% CI 16.8-22.5) of participants. Variables independently associated with 10 item ADL disability physical disability, were advanced age (≥ 75 years: prevalence ratio (PR) 7.9; 95% CI 4.8-12.9), presence of diabetes (PR 1.8; 95% CI 1.4-2.3), stroke (PR 1.5; 95% CI 1.1-2.2), depressive symptomology (PR 1.3; 95% CI 1.1-1.8) and visual impairment (blind: PR 2.0; 95% CI 1.1-3.6). Advancing age (≥ 75 years: PR 3.0; 95% CI 1.7-5.2) being female (PR 2.7; 95% CI 1.2-6.1), presence of arthritis (PR 1.6; 95% CI 1.2-2.1) and depressive symptomology (PR 2.0; 95% CI 1.5-2.7) were significantly associated with functional limitation.ConclusionsThe prevalence of physical disability and functional limitation among older Malaysians appears to be much higher than in developed countries but is comparable to developing countries. Associations with socio-demographic and other health related variables were consistent with other studies.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Hairi et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2010