Functional status and mental health among the elderly in rural South India: a cross sectional study

Authors

  • Zachariah Thomas Community Health Department, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
  • Adithya C. Godfred Community Health Department, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
  • Karthick M. Sriram Community Health Department, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
  • Gaurav Rout Community Health Department, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
  • Anna Eldho Community Health Department, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
  • Jason J. George Community Health Department, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
  • Reshma N. Koshy Community Health Department, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
  • Anna K. Abraham Community Health Department, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
  • Srividhya Balasubramanian Community Health Department, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
  • Eman C. Lyngdoh Community Health Department, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
  • Simran Jachuck Community Health Department, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
  • Lalremruati Chawngthu Community Health Department, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
  • Priyanka Gautam Community Health Department, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
  • Pavithra B. Kauvery Multispecialty Hospital, Hosur, Tamil Nadu, India
  • Ranjith Viswanath Department of Community Medicine, M. S. Ramaiah Medical College, Bangalore, Karnataka, India
  • Bhavya Balasubramanya College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Darwin, NT, Australia
  • Anu M. Oommen Community Health Department, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
  • Anuradha Rose Community Health Department, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20222915

Keywords:

Activities of daily living, Elderly, Chronic disease, Depression, Cognitive dysfunction

Abstract

Background: Functional status assessment in the elderly helps to improve quality of life and prognosticate chronic disease. Literature on the status of functional ability of the elderly in rural India is limited.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was done among 164 rural elderly persons in eight villages from Vellore, Tamil Nadu, to assess the prevalence of poor functional status, mental and physical health.

Elderly aged 60 and above were selected by systematic random sampling, from eight villages which were selected by simple random sampling from a single rural block. A semi structured questionnaire on disability, health status, activities of daily living and functional assessment (Katz Index), depression (Geriatric Depression Scale-5) and cognition (Dementia Assessment by Rapid Test) was administered.

Results: Out of 164 participants, 6.7% (11, 95% CI: 2.8%-10.6%) had a dependent functional status. While 68.9% (n=113) reported a chronic condition, 21.9% (n=36) reported multiple comorbidities and 37.2% (n=61) screened positive for depression. All those with a dependent functional status had a chronic condition. Female gender (OR: 8.33, 95% CI: 1.04-100.00), living alone (OR: 11.60, 95% CI: 1.58-85.34) and depression (OR: 11.29, 95% CI: 2.00-63.70) were found to be significantly associated with dependent functional status.

Conclusions: Although majority of the community dwelling rural elderly had normal functional status, given the high burden of chronic diseases, it is important to routinely assess functional status to identify elderly at risk of disabilities.

 

Author Biographies

Zachariah Thomas, Community Health Department, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

Adithya C. Godfred, Community Health Department, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

Karthick M. Sriram, Community Health Department, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

Gaurav Rout, Community Health Department, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

Anna Eldho, Community Health Department, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

Jason J. George, Community Health Department, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

Reshma N. Koshy, Community Health Department, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

Anna K. Abraham, Community Health Department, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

Srividhya Balasubramanian, Community Health Department, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

Eman C. Lyngdoh, Community Health Department, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

Simran Jachuck, Community Health Department, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

Lalremruati Chawngthu, Community Health Department, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

Priyanka Gautam, Community Health Department, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

Pavithra B., Kauvery Multispecialty Hospital, Hosur, Tamil Nadu, India

Ranjith Viswanath, Department of Community Medicine, M. S. Ramaiah Medical College, Bangalore, Karnataka, India

Bhavya Balasubramanya, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Darwin, NT, Australia

Anu M. Oommen, Community Health Department, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

Anuradha Rose, Community Health Department, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India

References

World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision. Available at: https://www.un.org/development/desa/ publications/world-population-prospects-the-2017-revision.html. Accessed on 20 October 2021.

Prince MJ, Wu F, Guo Y, Robledo LMG, O’Donnell M, Sullivan R, et al. The burden of disease in older people and implications for health policy and practice. Lancet. 2015;385(9967):549-62.

Centers for disease control and prevention. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityand health/disability.html. Accessed on 20 October 2021.

von Bonsdorff MB, Rantanen T. Progression of functional limitations in relation to physical activity: a life course approach. Eur Rev Aging Phys Act. 2011;8(1):23-30.

Dombrowsky TA. Relationship between engagement and level of functional status in older adults. SAGE Open Med. 2017;5:205-9.

Kaye HS, Harrington C, LaPlante MP. Long-term care: who gets it, who provides it, who pays, and how much? Health Aff Proj Hope. 2010;29(1):11-21.

Functional Status Assessment. Available at: http://projects.galter.northwestern.edu/geriatrics/chapters/functional_status_assessment.cfm. Accessed on 20 October 2021.

Khan ZA, Singh C, Khan T. Correlates of physical disability in the elderly population of Rural North India (Haryana). J Fam Community Med. 2018; 25(3):199-204.

Gupta P, Mani K, Rai SK, Nongkynrih B, Gupta SK. Functional disability among elderly persons in a rural area of Haryana. Indian J Public Health. 2014;58(1): 11.

Shelkey M, Wallace M. Katz Index of Independence in Activities of Daily Living. J Gerontol Nurs. 1999; 25(3):8-9.

Greenberg SA. How to try this: the Geriatric Depression Scale: Short Form. Am J Nurs. 2007 Oct;107(10):60-9.

Vishnubhatla BS. Dementia Assessment by Rapid Test (DART): An Indian Screening T ool for Dementia. J Alzheimer’s Dis Park. 2015;1:5.

Bhatia MS, Srivastava S, Moond V. Prevalence of cognitive dysfunction, psychological morbidity and abuse in the community-based elderly population in India. Gen Psychiatry. 2020;33(5):e100207.

Regional Office for the Western Pacific. The Asia-Pacific perspective : redefining obesity and its treatment. Health Commu Aus. 2000.

Pandey VK, Aggarwal P, Kakkar R. Modified BG Prasad Socio-economic Classification, Update - 2019. Indian J Commu Health. 2019;31(1):150-2.

Veerapu N, A PB, P S, G A. Functional dependence among elderly people in a rural community of Andhra Pradesh, South India. Int J Community Med Public Health. 2016;3(7):1835-40.

Kumar D, Shankar H. Prevalence of chronic diseases and quality of life among elderly people of rural Varanasi. Int J Contemp Med Res IJCMR. 2018; 5(7):32-8.

Sharma P, Maurya P, Muhammad T. Number of chronic conditions and associated functional limitations among older adults: cross-sectional findings from the longitudinal aging study in India. BMC Geriatr. 2021;21(1):664.

Bincy K, Logaraj M, Ramraj B. Depression and its associated factors among the older adults in rural, Tamilnadu, India. Clin Epidemiol Glob Health. 2021; 10:100677.

Pilania M, Yadav V, Bairwa M, Behera P, Gupta SD, Khurana H, et al. Prevalence of depression among the elderly (60 years and above) population in India, 1997–2016: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Public Health. 2019;19(1):832.

Boström G, Conradsson M, Rosendahl E, Nordström P, Gustafson Y, Littbrand H. Functional capacity and dependency in transfer and dressing are associated with depressive symptoms in older people. Clin Interv Aging. 2014;9:249-57.

Perissinotto CM, Cenzer IS, Covinsky KE. Loneliness in Older Persons: A predictor of functional decline and death. Arch Intern Med. 2012;172(14):1078-83.

Chokkanathan S. Prevalence of and risk factors for loneliness in rural older adults. Australas J Ageing. 2020;39(4):e545-51.

Millán-Calenti JC, Tubío J, Pita-Fernández S, Rochette S, Lorenzo T, Maseda A. Cognitive impairment as predictor of functional dependence in an elderly sample. Arch Gerontol Geriatr. 2012; 54(1):197-201.

Downloads

Published

2022-10-29

How to Cite

Thomas, Z., Godfred, A. C., Sriram, K. M., Rout, G., Eldho, A., George, J. J., Koshy, R. N., Abraham, A. K., Balasubramanian, S., Lyngdoh, E. C., Jachuck, S., Chawngthu, L., Gautam, P., B., P., Viswanath, R., Balasubramanya, B., Oommen, A. M., & Rose, A. (2022). Functional status and mental health among the elderly in rural South India: a cross sectional study. International Journal Of Community Medicine And Public Health, 9(11), 4179–4184. https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20222915

Issue

Section

Original Research Articles