Activities of daily living independence in Iranian blind war survivors: a cross sectional study, 2008.
OBJECTIVE
Assessment of activities of daily living (ADL) can be helpful for designing individualized rehabilitation programs for disabled individuals. Measuring and comparing the basic ADL (BADL) and instrumental ADL (IADL) independence between middle aged and senior Iranian blind war survivors (IBWS) was the aim of this study.


METHODS
This cross-sectional study assessed BADL and IADL of 312 blind war survivors, using the Barthel Index and the Lawton-Bordy scale. Data collection was carried out in a recreational event for the blind war survivors in Mashhad, Iran, 2008.


RESULTS
The majority of the participants were male (99%), and more than 80% had multiple injuries. None of them were independent in all BADL and IADL. Older groups were more dependent in IADL such as telephone use, drug management, financial management, and BADL such as walking on uneven surfaces, bed/chair transfer and using stairs. The functional status and activities' level differences between those aged younger than 50 years and those aged older than 50 years were significant (P<0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
In the present study, all the IBWS were dependent in at least one ADL. Multiple physical injuries could be one of the main reasons for the dependency in this group. IBWS aged older than 50 years were considerably more dependent in their BADL and IADL than the younger group. It appears that starting the fifth decade of age in IBWS might cause some considerable decrease in their function. Training and individualized rehabilitation programs are warranted.
Janbazan Medical and Engineering Research Center (JMERC), The University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Science, Tehran, Iran.
Reza
R
Amini
Robab
R
Sahaf
Alireza
A
Kaldi
Hamid
H
Haghani
Keyvan
K
Davatgaran
Mehdi
M
Masoumi
Reza
R
Hayatbakhsh
Mehdi
M
Rassafiani
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D001766:Blindness / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D057187:Independent Living; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017741:Survivors; D019987:Persons with Visual Disabilities / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D014857:Warfare