Life-style activities in older people without intellectual impairment: a population-based study

Activities of daily living are important indicators of the functional status and wellbeing of older persons. Data derived from life-style activities of the community at large are important for such diverse purposes as characterising the individual's ability for independent living, studying normal ageing, or investigating social factors in rehabilitation. Our objective was to determine patterns in the life-style activities of people aged 65 years and older who had no intellectual impairment.

The article is a cross-sectional study of a population-based sample. Eligible people were non-institutionalised and aged 65 years or older, resident in the province of Guadalajara, Spain, and without intellectual impairment as assessed by the 10-item Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire. Questionnaires were administered by trained interviewers and included questions about the daily activities of the Adelaide Activities Profile (AAP), distributed among the four categories of domestic chores, household maintenance, service to others, and social activities. Each item was rated 0 = absent or 1 = present, and total scores ranged from 0 to 19.

The sample included 192 men and 196 women from rural areas and 172 men and 220 women from urban areas. In the category of domestic chores, mean ratings for women (4.56, 95% CI 4.30 to 4.84) were significantly higher (p <0.05) than for men (1.36, 95% CI 1.11 to 1.62) both in urban and rural areas, except in the oldest age group (> or =85 years). In the subscale of household maintenance, also except for group of > or =85 years, men rated significantly higher (3.31, 95% CI 3.11 to 3.53) than women (2.34, 95% CI 2.21 to 2.47), independent of the place of residence. Women scored significantly higher than men in activities associated with service to others. Men younger than 80 years from rural areas were significantly more involved in social activities than women. In urban areas both sexes scored similarly in social activities

The differences found among the AAP scales in relation to gender was a clear indication of the well established roles for men and women in our sociocultural context. The 19-item version of the AAP scale is a valuable survey instrument as an objective guide for studying activities related to life-style in community settings.