Turkish Journal of Geriatrics 2005 , Vol 8, Issue 2
DAILY LIVING ACTIVITIES, SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTION LEVELS OF OLDER WOMEN LIVING IN CENTRAL MALATYA
Gülsen GÜNEŞ, Nurten DEMİRCİOĞLU, Leyla KARAOĞLU
İnönü Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Halk Sağlığı Anabilim Dalı
Atatürk Sağlık Meslek Lisesi, Malatya
This study was done to evaluate the degree of daily living activities, social and psychological well-being of women aged 65 and over in central Malatya.The study was designed as cross-sectional and 530 elderly women were selected randomly by using stratified sampling method from upper, lower and medial socieconomical regions in Malatya municipality. A face to face questionnaire was applied to the women which included items about sociodemographic characteristics, daly living activities, social and psychological functioning. Regarding severe limitations in daily living activities; 25.2 % of the women were limited in doing shopping 14.4 % in bathing and 10.0 % in controlling urination. 26.8 % of the women were moderately limited in stairs climbing. It was determined thet the degree of dependence was getting higher as the age got older and educational level got lower (p<0.05). Of the women, 13.4 % had no contacts with anybody, 26.0 % didn’t visit family or friends even once a month and 19.6 % didn’t have any telephone contacts. I was determined that social functioning got higher as the educational level gor higher. 72.2 % who were not living alone compared to 57.4 % of the women who were living alone had no problem in psychological functioning (p<0.05). Older people require a multidisciplinary and integrated approach covering medical, social and psychological items. Keywords : Older people, Barthel index, Daily living activities, Social, Psychological