Elderly Health Journal

Introduction: One of the most popular methods for evaluating old people’s health condition is to assess their functional practice. The aim of this study was to assess the status of daily living activities among the older people of Maku, Iran.

Methods: The present cross-sectional study was accomplished among 216 older people in Maku via simple random sampling. Participant’s subjective and demographic information were gathered and their daily living activities status was measured by the Katz index.

Results: The participants' mean age was 70.09 ± 7.98. Most of the elderlies were men (59.3%) and illiterate (38.4%). Of them, 10.6% were dependent, 6% needed help or were partially dependent, and 82.9% were independent in their daily living activities. Significant associations were observed between daily living activities and age, education level, marital status and living condition (p < 0.001). Married old adults were more dependent than other ones living alone (p < 0.001).

Conclusion: Although most of the participants were independent, they needed assistance for few of their daily living activities. Also, since age was significantly correlated with daily living activities, it is necessary to implement educational health living programsfor older people suffering from functional restrictions. Also, providing suitable facilities, convenience and human resources should  be taken into consideration.