Daily living activities among geriatric residents at geriatric homes in Erbil and Sulaimaniyah cities, Kurdistan Region

Background and objective: Maintaining the ability to perform basic self-care activities bythe older adults is fundamental to maintaining their independence and quality of life. Thisstudy aimed to assess the level of functional dependency of the residents of geriatrichomes in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah cities.Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 94 older adults living in geriatric homesin Erbil and Sulaymaniyah cities. Data was collected on the socio-demographiccharacteristics, clinical characteristics, social issues and daily recreation activities of theparticipants using a questionnaire. Nine essential activities of daily living were assessedthrough a three-point Likert scale of independent, requires assistance and dependent.Results: The mean and standard deviation age of the participants was 71.88 ± 8.94 years(range 60-81 years). Around half (43.6%) of the participants had at least one dependentactivity. The level of dependency was highest in shopping, climbing stairs and bathingactivities. Dependency of activities of daily living was significantly (P <0.001) higher infemales than males; in illiterate and those read and write than primary school graduatesand secondary school and higher level graduates; in those self-employed before enteringgeriatric home than retired and unemployed; and in ex-smokers and non-smokers thansmokers.Conclusion: The level of independency in the different daily living activities was relativelyhigh, which might be attributed to having a younger age group of elderly in thegeriatric homes. Dependency was significantly associated with the sex, education level,employment status and smoking status of the participants.