title: Quality of life in older individuals with joint contractures in geriatric care settings.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to analyze the association between functioning and disability and quality of life (QoL) in older individuals with joint contractures in the geriatric care setting. More specifically, this study aimed to identify determinants of QoL out of a defined set of contracture-related categories of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF).
  
  
  
  Participants for this multicenter cross-sectional survey were recruited from acute geriatric rehabilitation hospitals, nursing homes, and community nursing facilities in Germany between February and October 2013. QoL was assessed using the validated German version of the EQ-5D index score and the EQ-5D visual analog scale (VAS). Manual and automatic variable selection methods were used to identify the most relevant variables out of 125 contracture-related ICF categories.
  
  
  
  A total of 241 eligible participants (34.9 % male, mean age 80.1 years) were included. The final models contained 14 ICF categories as predictors of the EQ-5D index score and 15 categories as predictors of the EQ-5D VAS. The statistically significant ICF categories from both models were 'muscle power functions (b730),' 'memory functions (b144),' 'taking care of plants (d6505),' 'recreation and leisure (d920),' 'religion and spirituality (d930),' 'drugs (e1101),' and 'products and technology for personal use in daily living (e115).'
  
  
  
  We identified the most relevant ICF categories for older individuals with joint contractures and their health-related quality of life. These items describe potential determinants of QoL which may provide the basis for future health interventions aiming to improve QoL for the patients with joint contractures.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Medical Information Processing, Biometrics and Epidemiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Marchioninistraße 17, 81377, Munich, Germany. mc_heise@yahoo.de.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Heise
authors.affiliation: Institute for Medical Information Processing, Biometrics and Epidemiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Marchioninistraße 17, 81377, Munich, Germany.|German Center for Vertigo and Balance Disorders (DSGZ), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.affiliation: Institute for Medical Information Processing, Biometrics and Epidemiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Marchioninistraße 17, 81377, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Uli
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.affiliation: Institute for Medical Information Processing, Biometrics and Epidemiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Marchioninistraße 17, 81377, Munich, Germany.|German Center for Vertigo and Balance Disorders (DSGZ), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Grill
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001168:Arthritis / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D003286:Contracture; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009735:Nursing Homes; D063868:Patient Outcome Assessment; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Contracture (MeSH); Geriatric assessment (MeSH); Patient outcome assessment (MeSH); Quality of Life (MeSH)