The effects of cognitive impairment on functional ability status (ADL/ IADL) in the elderly, Rasht in 2017

Background: Cognitive abilities decline with aging. Thus, it is necessary to differentiate between the normal conditions associated with aging and pathological cognitive disabilities. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) ‘benign senile forgetfulness ‘is an intermediate state between normal cognitive aging and dementia. The impact of cognitive impairment on activities of daily living (ADL) is being used as a major criterion for differentiating between mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia.Materials & Methods: The study population included 302 elderly people (60 years and above) in urban and rural areas of Rasht. The samples were selected by multi-stage sampling (cluster and systematic randomized technique). For assessing the cognitive status, the standard questionnaire, MMSE, was used and for assessing the functional abilities another standard questionnaire, IADL and ADL, was used. The data were collected and interpreted using the Spearman s correlation coefficient and chi-square test in SPSS (Version 19).Results: Of all samples, 59.9% were women and 40.1% men with mean and standard deviation 69.22% ±7.14 .There was a significant relationship between cognitive impairment and age, sex, educational status and area of habitation. No significant relationship was observed between cognitive impairment and chronic diseases. Results showed that the elderly with severe cognitive impairment required assistance in ADL activities or they were totally dependent. Moreover, 32.6% of the subjects were within the normal limits of cognitive status, 6.5% of them had mild cognitive impairment, 6.3% of the elderly with moderate cognitive impairment in IADL activities were completely independent, 100% of the elders with severe cognitive impairment needed assistance or they were totally dependent in IADL activities and all of these differences were statistically significant.Conclusion: The reduction in the cognitive ability of the elderly decreases their ability to perform activities of daily living. Therefore, continuous evaluation of ADL and IADL is necessary as a preventive intervention in early stages of the disease.

کلیدواژه ها:

Cognitive Impairment ، Functional Ability Status ، Elderly