Investigation on the health status and activeities of daily life among elderly female at home in Shandong province

Objective To investigate physical, mental, social health status and activities of daily life and their influencing factors among elderly female at home. Methods 378 cases of elderly female were selected with multistage stratified random sampling method and surveyed with demographic information, physical health, mental health and social health. Data was analyzed by descriptive statistics and Chi-square test. Results The prevalence of chronic disease and common health problems in elderly female at home was 86.7% and 91.9% respectively. 52.4% of female elderly were ADL independent and 22.2% were IADL independent. The occurrence of cognitive impairment and depression was 32. 8% and 62.7% respectively. 61.4% had good function of family. Age, marital status, number of types of chronic disease, number of categories of health problem, cognitive function, depression and self-rated health were influential factors of ADL. The first four factors also influenced IADL. Conclusions Elderly female at home have some physical, mental and social health problems. Therefore, carrying out health education on common chronic diseases and health problems, providing self-care tools for elderly women with defect of daily living, maintaining and enhancing good family functions would promote healthy aging of elderly female. Key words: Elderly female;  Activities of daily living;  Instrumental activities of daily living;  Health status