J Korean Neurol Assoc.  2005 Feb;23(1):15-20.

Factors Associated with Korean Version of Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (K-IADL) in a Community Dwelling Elderly Population

• Jeong SK
• Lee SH

Abstract

BACKGROUND
The diagnosis of dementia is dependent on the decline of cognitive and functional ability. To measure the functional ability, a Korean version of Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (K-IADL) was developed and validated. However, the characteristics of the instrument were not fully evaluated. The study was conducted for the purpose of investigating which of the variables were associated with the K-IADL scores. METHODS: The study group from Namwon, Korea, consisting of 235 participants aged 65 years and over, was given the K-IADL to evaluate the functional ability of the participants. The independent variables included sociodemographic data (age, sex, education), vascular factors (blood pressure [BP], history of hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus, smoking, alcohol intake, and heart rate), and anthropometric measurements (height and arm length). RESULTS: Age, female gender, low educational attainment, high systolic BP, shorter height and arm length were significantly associated with higher K-IADL scores in univariate analyses. Among the results, age, education, systolic BP, and arm length showed independent associations with the K-IADL in multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The K-IADL was not influenced by gender in adjusted regression analyses, however education and arm length affected the functional scores, which could suggest a possibility of functional reserve. Also, it was suggested that vascular risk factors could be associated with functional ability.

Keyword

Activities of Daily Living; Arm length; Blood pressure; Population

MeSH Terms

Activities of Daily Living*
Aged*
Arm
Blood Pressure
Dementia
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2
Diagnosis
Education
Female
Heart
Humans
Hypertension
Jeollabuk-do
Korea
Multivariate Analysis
Regression Analysis
Risk Factors
Smoke
Smoking
Smoke