Activities of Daily Living among the Oldest-old People: A Rural Urban Study

Abstract

The functional status like activities of daily living (ADL) is the most important health problem of the aged population, which is related to their quality of life and the nursing burden of the family. Therefore, activities that are required to function independently in daily life, so-called activities of daily living (ADLs), have long been seen as essential measures of disability in ageing studies. The present paper aims to measure the activities of daily living (ADL) of some ‘oldest-old’ population living in both rural and urban areas of Paschim Medinipur district, West Bengal, India. The ADL functional statuses with respect to eating, dressing, getting in and out of a bed or a chair, using the toilet, bathing, and continence have been used to measure the elderly’s degree of independence in daily living. Data on ADL assessments of the individual respondents have been collected by interview technique and observation method with the help of a structured questionnaire. The study demonstrates that, on an average, the oldest-old rural population of Medinipur district under study enjoys more degree of independence in daily living compared to their urban counterparts.