[Study on the declining physical functions and its influencing factors among the Chinese elderly aged 65 years and...

To understand the declining pattern of physical activities on daily living (PADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) and its influencing factors among the Chinese elderly aged 65 years and over.

Using data from 2002 and 2005 of the Chinese Longitudinal Health Longevity Study (CLHLS), 6761 Chinese elderly with fully independent PADL in 2002 and 3556 Chinese elderly with fully independent IADL in 2002 were studied.

Data showed that the male elderly with fully dependent IADL at baseline in 2002 declined to 59.3% but kept the IADL in full independent in 2005, while that of female elderly were 51.8% still keeping the IADL full independent in 2005. Male elderly who at baseline with the PADL fully dependent in 2002 declined to 87.1% but kept the PADL full independent in 2005, while that of female elderly were 81.5% keeping the PADL full independent in 2005. There were only 70.0%, 47.0%, 24.0% and 15.0% elderly keeping the IADL full independent among the age groups of 65 - 74, 75 - 84, 85 - 94 and 95 - 105, respectively, from 2002 to 2005; while there were 95.0%, 87.0%, 74.0% and 55.0% elderly keeping the PADL full independent among the above age groups of 65 - 74, 75 - 84, 85 - 94 and 95 - 105, from 2002 to 2005. Age, numbers of episodes that suffering from serious illness in the past two years and cognitive ability were significantly associated with IADL or PADL had a decline after controlling for sex, socioeconomic factors in the multinomial logistical regression analysis among the Chinese elderly aged 65 years and older, during the period from 2002 to 2005.

The declining physical functional status among the 65 and older elderly went severe with age in China, with IADL more severe than that of PADL. Chinese female elderly suffered more in PADL or IADL than that of male elderly. Age, numbers of episode that suffering from serious illness in the past two years and cognitive ability were considered as predictive factors of functional status among the Chinese elderly. However, gender, living conditions, education background and marital status that appearing to be the significant predictors only seen in partial IADL/PADL declining models.