Correlation Between Working Capacity and APDL in Middle-Aged and Elderly People with Intellectual Impairment

In this study we investigated the correlation between working capacity and APDL of middle-aged and elderly residents of welfare homes for the intellectually retarded. The subjects were 313 intellectually retarded people over 35 years old. The subjects were chosen from residents of four welfare institutions and job-placement centers for intellectually retarded people in Otaru, Hokkaido. Personal attributes, working capacity, and APDL were investigated in each subject. The items of personal attributes were: gender, chronological age, severity of intellectual impairment, and presence/absence of Down's syndrome. Working capacity was evaluated according to the 6 items. APDL was evaluated according to the 51 items. For statistical analysis of the working capacity of the subjects, the variables were summarized using principal component analysis and scored. Next, a search was made for the common factors in the 51 items of APDL using the principal component method. Finally, the correlation between working capacity and APDL was investigated by multiple regression analysis, with the obtained composite scores as dependent variables and the scores of APDL factors extracted by principal component analysis as independent variables. The following three factors were selected for the subjects: health management, outdoor movement and social activity. The multiple correlation coefficient using these three factors was R=0.63 (F=55.20, p<0.01). This indicates the necessity, from the viewpoints of prevention of senility, to focus not only on the decrease in working capacity of aging residents with intellectual impairment in welfare institutions but to establish various countermeasures based on the interrelationship between working capacity and APDL.