title: Functional disability among elderly persons in a rural area of Haryana.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The number and proportion of elderly persons is increasing, in India, as well as the world. Disability is an important indicator to measure disease burden in this group. While some chronic conditions may not be amenable to complete cure, their functional disabilities can be improved with timely and appropriate management.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective of the following study is to estimate the prevalence of functional disability and study its association with socio-demographic variables and self-reported chronic conditions among elderly persons in a rural area of Haryana.
  
  
  METHODS
  All persons aged 60 years and above in the randomly selected six clusters were included in this community-based cross-sectional study. Information was collected on socio-demographic variables and self-reported chronic conditions. Functional disability was defined as having disability in activities of daily living, or blindness or hearing impairment, or a combination of these. In multivariate analysis, backward stepwise logistic regression was carried out to study the association between the independent and dependent variables, after adjusting for confounding variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among the 836 participants studied, the prevalence of functional disability was estimated to be 37.4% (95% confidence interval: 34.2, 40.7). The prevalence was less among men (35.9%) than women (38.8%). The prevalence increased with age, was more common among persons who were not currently married, had diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Functional disability is common among elderly persons in the rural area. Community-based interventions are needed to address them. Management of chronic conditions should include prevention and control of associated disability.
authors.forename: Priti
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: Kalaivani
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mani
authors.forename: Sanjay Kumar
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Rai
authors.forename: Baridalyne
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nongkynrih
authors.affiliation: Professor, Centre for Community Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Sanjeev Kumar
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Gupta
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors