Home care needs of extremely obese elderly European women.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the health and needs of extremely obese women aged over 65 years receiving home care in Europe.


METHODS
A cross-sectional assessment study based on the Aged in Home Care (AdHOC) project recruited 2974 women aged 65 or over who were receiving home care at 11 sites in European countries. Extreme obesity was defined as 'Obesity of such a degree as to interfere with normal activities, including respiration'.


METHODS
Resident Assessment Instrument for Home Care (RAI-HC version 2.0); Activity of Daily Living Scale; Instrumental Activity of Daily Living Scale; the Minimum Data Set Cognitive Performance Scale; and a health profile.


RESULTS
One hundred and twenty women (4.0%) were extremely obese. They were younger than their thinner counterparts, with a median age of 78.3 versus 83.3 years, and they more often had multiple health complaints and needed more help with mobility outside the home. The extremely obese had received home care longer than the non-extremely obese (median 28.7 versus 36.6 months). Extremely obese women also needed more help with personal care than the other group and, due to lower age, they were less cognitively impaired.


CONCLUSIONS
Extreme obesity is a problem that increasingly affects home care of elderly women.
Sørbye
L W
LW
Diakonhjemmet University College, Oslo, Norway. soerbye@diakonhjemmet.no
Schroll
M
M
Finne-Soveri
H
H
Jónnson
P V
PV
Ljunggren
G
G
Topinkova
E
E
Bernabei
R
R
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006299:Health Services for the Aged / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006304:Health Status; D006699:Home Care Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D009767:Obesity, Morbid / Q000628:therapy*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D016387:Women's Health; D014932:Women's Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data