title: Relationship between perinatal characteristics and later activities of daily living in Chinese elderly people.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There are no reports on the association between perinatal characteristics and comprehensive physical function in Chinese elderly people. In this study, we traced 875 subjects who were born at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH) of China from 1921 to 1941. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of perinatal characteristics on activities of daily living (ADL) function in the geriatric period.
  
  
  METHODS
  Birth data of 875 subjects were obtained from obstetric birth records of PUMCH. Adulthood data collection was conducted in the outpatient clinics of PUMCH. During the clinic visits, trained research staff administered physical examinations, activities of daily living scale and a demographic questionnaire. ADLs of all subjects were assessed with the activities of daily living scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 101 subjects whose ADL function was limited and the rate of ADL limitation was 11.5%. Binary logistic regression analyses results showed that the main influencing factors of ADL were age, maternal age at birth, occupation, daily exercise and chronic disease. Subjects whose maternal age at their birth exceeded 35 years were at 2.202 times (1.188 - 4.083) greater risk of ADL limitation when we applied multivariate logistic regression models.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study validated the relationship between perinatal characteristics and ADL in the geriatric period. An older maternal age at birth could predict a higher ADL limitation rate in the geriatric period.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Statistics, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & School of Basic Medicine, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Zhen-xin
authors.initials: ZX
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Shao-mei
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Xin-hua
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: Xiao-ming
authors.initials: XM
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Hong-tao
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Zi-shi
authors.initials: ZS
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Ai-min
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002681:China; D002908:Chronic Disease; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D008423:Maternal Age; D008875:Middle Aged; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors