Functional Efficiency Among Hospitalized Neurological Elderly Patients

Abstract

Background: Functional efficiency of the elderly is defined as the ability to perform the activity of daily life safely and independently. Aim of the study: Was to assess functional efficiency among hospitalized neurological elderly patients. Subjects and Methods; Research design: Descriptive study design was adopted to carry out this study. Setting: The study was conducted at Neurological department, at Sednawy hospital, Zagazig University. Subjects: A purposive sample of 90 subjects who fulfilled the study inclusion criteria. Tools of data collection: A structured interview questionnaire was used for data collection which was composed of three parts. Part I: Elderly demographic characteristics, Part II: Medical history and Part III: Current state of health in relation to neurological status, Functional efficiency was measured by the Barthel Index BI. Results: The study reveals that only 23.3% of the studied elderly patients were independent in daily living activity, 21.1% of them were need minor help, 43.3% of them were need major help and 12.2% of them were totally dependent . Meanwhile, this score had a negative correlation with the elderly age, also there was statistically significant relation between elderly patients functional efficiency mean score age, their marital status and having chronic diseases at p<0.05. Additionally, highly statistically significant relation between elderly's functional efficiency and their neurological diagnosis at p<0.05. Conclusion:The studied group of elderly patients was characterized by a reduced level of functional efficiency; also there was a highly statistically significant relation between elderly's functional efficiency and their neurological status. Recommendations: More similar studies and researches should be done among other ages and also among other patients.