title: Prevalence of functioning and disability in older patients with joint contractures: a cross-sectional study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Joint contractures are a common problem for older, frail people, particularly in rehabilitation, nursing home and homecare settings. Joint contractures are underreported and sparsely empirically investigated despite their high prevalence.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to examine the prevalence of functional impairments, activity limitations and participation restrictions of patients with joint contractures using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) as a framework. We also examined contextual factors as potential mediators for functioning and disability.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study-
  
  
  METHODS
  Three acute-geriatric hospitals in and around Munich (Germany).
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients aged 65 and over with confirmed joint contractures requiring rehabilitation care.
  
  
  METHODS
  The patients were asked to answer a questionnaire that comprised 124 categories of the ICF. Patients' problems in functioning were registered separately for each category. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews with patients and health professionals and from patients' medical records.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One hundred and fifty patients were eligible and agreed to participate. Mean age was 82.5 years (SD: 7.4), 64.8% of the patients were female. Problems in "muscle power functions" (95.9%) and "driving human-powered transportation" (89,6%) were those most frequently identified. 'Health services, systems and policies' (98,6%) was the most frequent environmental facilitator.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Aged persons with joint contractures experience high levels of disability. Specifically, mobility, participation restrictions and interactions with the environment emerged as important issues of our study.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Mobility and support by others were frequently mentioned as aspects relevant for persons with joint contractures. These aspects have to be considered when assessing the impact of joint contractures.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Medical Information Processing, Biometrics and Epidemiology, Ludwig‑Maximilians‑Universität München, Munich, Germany - uli.fischer@med.uni-muenchen.de.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Strobl
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bartoszek
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Grill
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003286:Contracture / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007592:Joint Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015995:Prevalence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires