Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 18, 2026

Assessment of Dependence in Activities of Daily Living Among Older Patients in an Acute Care Unit
Published on: September 30, 2020
[Functional impairment in elderly patients hospitalised in an Internal Medicine unit]
Abstract:
To determine the functional status in elderly patients after a hospitalisation in an Internal Medicine unit. We prospectively studied patients aged 80 or above hospitalised in the Hospital Provincial de Ciudad Real in an Internal Medicine unit, between February and July, 2003. The functional status was determined by Barthel Index. We examined 206 patients (77.4%). They showed a previous Barthel Index of 70.9; one of 48.9 in the hospitalisation stage and one of 58.6 when discharged (p<0.001). We noticed a Barthel Index when discharged which was lower than the previous Barthel one in 73.8% patients. Hospitalisation implies a great functional impairment in the functional status elderly patients. It would be convenient, therefore, to identify the risk factors to be able to set some guidelines for a preventive model.
Related Concept Videos
Heart Failure VII: Nursing Interventions
Restorative Care
Development of Human Microbiota
Classification of Illness
An illness is a response to a disease in which the person's level of functioning is changed compared with a previous level. The general classification of illness includes acute and chronic.
Acute illness is severe and...
