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The ageing of elderly people
Objective:
To assess the performance of activities of daily living, social resources and incidence of dementia in a cohort of elderly Chinese.
Design:
This was a longitudinal study which measured changes in a five-year interval.
Setting:
The study was conducted in the Henderson district of Singapore at the subjects' homes and at a day centre.
Subjects:
A random sample of elderly Chinese was selected in 1985 from the electoral roll of the Henderson constituency and reassessed after 5 years.
Outcome Measures:
A semi-structured questionnaire adapted from the Older American Resources and Services, and the computerised mental state programme, GMS-AGECAT.
Results:
There was no apparent change in social resources after 5 years and the majority of the elderly (80.3%) were still living with their families. On activities of daily living, there was a significant decline especially after the age of 75. The incidence of dementia was 2.01%--the rate of Alzheimer's disease was 0.67% and multi-infarct dementia 1.34%.
Conclusion:
The change in performance of activities of daily living after the age of 75 and the low incidence of dementia were similar to studies in Europe and the United States.