Functional performance of older adults in a long-term care setting

Motivation has been identified as an important factor in the older adult's ability to perform functional activities. The purpose of this study was to explore functional performance and factors that have an impact on functional performance in nursing home residents. Participants included 44 White older adults from two nursing homes. The majority of the participants were female (84%). The mean age of the participants was 88 +/- 6.4 years and, on the average, they had been institutionalized for 2.85 +/- 2.8 years. Following data reduction of the predictors, two factors--motivation (efficacy beliefs and intrinsic motivation) and lower extremity function (contractures and standing balance)--were identified. In a stepwise multiple regression analysis, these two factors were the only variables that significantly predicted functional performance and accounted for 81% of the variance in function.