ADL capacity and loneliness among elderly persons with cognitive impairment

Advancing age brings a natural weakening of functions, making the individual rely more on support from the community and next-of-kin. The purpose of this study was to investigate, in relation to subjective loneliness, the ADL dependence of elderly persons with and without impaired cognitive capacity. 264 persons were interviewed. The Mini-Mental State Examination was used as a screening instrument for obtaining a cognitively-impaired and a normal group of elderly. Persons with impaired cognitive capacity who experienced loneliness had the greatest ADL dependence.