Abstract

AN ASSESSMENT OF ACTIVITIES OF DAILY LIVING AMONGST ELDERLY IN A RURAL COMMUNITY OF PUNJAB

Dr Harinder Sekhon*, Dr Sukhmeet Minhas

ABSTRACT

In most countries of the world, the proportion of people who are 60 years of age or more, is growing much faster than that in any other age group. Old age is not a disease in itself, but the elderly are vulnerable to long term diseases of insidious onset. This in turn has a significant effect on their daily routine, a measure of which is the activities of daily living. This analytical study was carried out to make an assessment of activities of daily living amongst elderly in a rural community of Punjab, India. Materials and methods This study was conducted in a rural community in the state of Punjab, India. The demographic data and profile of the population was studied and out of the total population of 9,456, individuals who were 60 years or older of age who met the inclusion criteria were included in the study. Results Out of the total of 1870 elderly population who met the inclusion criteria, 980 were females while the remainder 890 were men. No differences in sex were found in the proportion observed. It was observed that the dependency increased with increasing age of the individuals. Conclusion ADL is an important measure of the health of the elderly. There is a need to review the quality as well as the distribution of services offered to the elderly in rural Punjab, India, including the content of the services.

Keywords: activities, daily, dependent, elderly, independent, rural.