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Updated: Jul 4, 2026

Assessment of Dependence in Activities of Daily Living Among Older Patients in an Acute Care Unit
Published on: September 30, 2020
Social status and mortality with activity of daily living disability in later life
Edith Guilley1, Christian J Lalive d'Epinay
1Center for Interdisciplinary Gerontology (CIG), Route de Drize 7, Site de Battelle, 1227 Carouge, Geneva, Switzerland. edith.guilley@orange.fr
Objectives:
The aim of this study was to assess which social status factors predispose a person to dying with activity of daily living (ADL) disability in later life.
Methods:
We followed 243 deceased members of the Swiss Interdisciplinary Longitudinal Study on the Oldest Old annually up to 8 years before their deaths. Using a multilevel regression, we analyzed age at death, gender, occupational category, and geographic area as potential factors predisposing a person to ending life with ADL disability.
Results:
Disability scores showed a substantial increase as death approached. Individuals from a lower occupational category were at higher risk of ADL disability and experienced a greater functional decline prior to death compared to those from higher occupational categories.
Discussion:
Consistent with the cumulative disadvantage theoretical framework, the health differential between the occupational categories seems to be exacerbated prior to death.
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