Abstract Background: Functional ability is a major factor in determining the health and quality of life, especially in rural India, where the geriatric population is growing. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the functional ability and its association with sociodemographic characteristics. Materials and Methods: In four villages of Bhatar Block, Purba Bardhaman, 299 elderly people 60 years of age and older participated in a community-based cross-sectional study. Simple random sampling was used, and a pretested and validated schedule was used for in-person interviews. The Katz activities of daily living (ADL) scale was used to measure functional ability and was analyzed using appropriate software. Results: About 41.1% of people had activity limitation, with the highest dependences seen in bathing and dressing (13.7%). ADL limitation was significantly associated with age (odds ratio OR = 0.2627, P < 0.0001) female gender (OR = 0.1642, P < 0.0001), religion (OR = 0.3923, P = 0.0031), caste (OR = 2.1758, P = 0.0233) living alone (OR = 4.0777, P < 0.0006), hypertension (OR = 3.4602, P < 0.0001), and both diabetes and hypertension (OR = 0.1923, P < 0.0001). Conclusion: A significant percentage of the elderly in this rural area have difficulties with everyday tasks, particularly with bathing and dressing. Functional independence is affected by sociodemographic risks such as age, female gender, caste, religion, living alone, and hypertension, and both hypertension and diabetes.
Biswas et al. (Thu,) studied this question.