journal articles
DEMOGRAPHICS, ACTIVITIES OF DAILY LIVING AND CARE NEEDS IN ELDERLY CHINESE VETERANS: BASELINE INFORMATION OF A CROSS-SECTIONAL SURVEY FOR NEUROLOGICAL DISEASES IN BEIJING MILITARY COMMUNITY
J.-P. Tan, J. Liu, L.-N. Wang, Y.-M. Zhao, H.-G. Xie, X. Zhang, W. Wang, Z.-F. Wang, J.-J. Jia, M.-W. Zhu
J Aging Res Clin Practice 2013;2(4):382-385
Background: Objectice: In China, veterans form a special group who live in veterans’ communities, and facilitate research in elderly populations that include formerly underrepresented males and well-educated individuals. The aim of the paper was to analyze activities of daily living and care needs in elderly Chinese veterans living in Beijing. Design and Setting: A cross-sectional study with 44 veterans’ communities in Beijing for investigations. Participants: Veterans aged ≥60 years and lived in veterans’ community for more than 1 consecutive month. Measurements: We collected the information of demographics and past medical history and evaluated functional status and care needs. Functional status was evaluated by the Chinese version of activities of daily living (ADL) scale. Results: 95.8% of veterans were ≥70 years old, 30.8% were ≥80 years old and 94.4% were males. The proportions of veterans rated as dependent, by personal ADL (PADL) and instrumental ADL (IADL) were 24.7% and 34.6% respectively. Age was positively correlated with the proportions of PADL and IADL dependent veterans and veterans requiring care (24.1%). Spouses and housemaids were primary caregivers. 62.5% of veterans were empty nesters, who were less rated as IADL dependent than non-empty nesters. Conclusions: In our study, ADL dependent is associated with age and some neurological diseases, such as dementia, Parkinson’s disease, hemorrhagic stroke, ischemic stroke, insomnia. Therefore, it is necessary to perform a cross-sectional survey for neurological diseases in the setting of Beijing military community.