Problems with dressing in the frail elderly.
OBJECTIVE
Dressing is an important activity of daily living, yet many older adults have difficulty due to impairments. The purpose of this study was to explore the use of assistive devices for dressing by older persons with impairments, and to look at differences among frail elders with no dressing difficulty, upper-extremity-only dressing difficulty, lower-extremity-only dressing difficulty, and both upper- and lower-extremity dressing difficulty.


METHODS
We conducted in-home interviews and functional assessments with 1,101 elderly persons with activities of daily living and/or instrumental activities of daily living limitations in Western New York and Northern Florida. Participants were assigned to one of four groups based on Functional Independence Measure item scores for upper-extremity dressing and lower-extremity dressing. Descriptive statistics were used to report results.


RESULTS
Compared to women, there were relatively more men with lower-extremity dressing difficulty than with upper-extremity dressing difficulty. The group with both upper- and lower-extremity dressing difficulty reported the highest level of pain and scored lowest on all measures of functional status and mental status. The most commonly used dressing devices were associated with lower-extremity dressing.


CONCLUSIONS
There are differences in gender, health status, functional status, and mental status among elderly persons grouped by upper- or lower-extremity dressing difficulty. Results suggest that therapists should consider such differences as gender and type of difficulty (upper- or lower-extremity dressing) in both therapeutic approaches and recommendations for assistive devices. Pain is another important consideration, but it can often be reduced during dressing by using assistive devices.
Mann
William C
WC
Department of Occupational Therapy, University of Florida, PO Box 100164, Gainesville, Florida 32610-0164, USA. wmann@hp.ufl.edu
Kimble
Christine
C
Justiss
Michael D
MD
Casson
Elena
E
Tomita
Machiko
M
Wu
Samuel S
SS
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003020:Clothing; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005431:Florida / Q000453:epidemiology; D016330:Frail Elderly / Q000523:psychology*; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D009518:New York / Q000453:epidemiology; D010146:Pain / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D011788:Quality of Life; D012649:Self Concept; D012656:Self-Help Devices / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012737:Sex Factors; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile