TY - JOUR
T1 - Disability in Singapore’s elderly population
AU - Mahesh, Mithila
AU - Abdin, Edimansyah
AU - Vaingankar, Janhavi Ajit
AU - Picco, Louisa
AU - Jeyagurunathan, Anita
AU - Shafie, Saleha Binte
AU - Pang, Shirlene
AU - Sagayadevan, Vathsala
AU - Seow, Esmond
AU - Chong, Siow Ann
AU - Subramaniam, Mythily
PY - 2016/7/1
Y1 - 2016/7/1
N2 - Introduction: Disability increases an individual’s dependence and negatively impacts their physical, mental, and social functioning. The current study aims to establish the prevalence and risk factors of disability in Singapore’s population. Materials and Methods: Data was extracted from the Well-being of the Singapore Elderly (WiSE) study. This cross-sectional study recruited participants aged 60 years and above (n = 2421) who were representative of Singapore’s multiethnic population. We used the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS) 2.0 to assess the severity of disability in our sample while establishing its associations and correlations with cognitive levels, sociodemographic variables, and chronic illness. Results: Cognitive deficits, old age, female gender, Malay and Indian ethnicity, lack of education, retired or homemaker status, presence of chronic illness (specifically stroke, heart problems, depression, and dementia) were found to be significantly associated with disability in Singapore’s elderly population. As hypothesised, participants with deficits in cognition were more likely to indicate higher WHODAS scores. Conclusion: The findings highlighted specific factors associated with disability in this multiethnic population. The identification of these factors would lead the way to the development of appropriate interventions.
AB - Introduction: Disability increases an individual’s dependence and negatively impacts their physical, mental, and social functioning. The current study aims to establish the prevalence and risk factors of disability in Singapore’s population. Materials and Methods: Data was extracted from the Well-being of the Singapore Elderly (WiSE) study. This cross-sectional study recruited participants aged 60 years and above (n = 2421) who were representative of Singapore’s multiethnic population. We used the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS) 2.0 to assess the severity of disability in our sample while establishing its associations and correlations with cognitive levels, sociodemographic variables, and chronic illness. Results: Cognitive deficits, old age, female gender, Malay and Indian ethnicity, lack of education, retired or homemaker status, presence of chronic illness (specifically stroke, heart problems, depression, and dementia) were found to be significantly associated with disability in Singapore’s elderly population. As hypothesised, participants with deficits in cognition were more likely to indicate higher WHODAS scores. Conclusion: The findings highlighted specific factors associated with disability in this multiethnic population. The identification of these factors would lead the way to the development of appropriate interventions.
KW - Chronic illness
KW - Cognitive decline
KW - Functioning
KW - Old age
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85013812790&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Article
C2 - 27523509
AN - SCOPUS:85013812790
SN - 0304-4602
VL - 45
SP - 284
EP - 296
JO - Annals of the Academy of Medicine Singapore
JF - Annals of the Academy of Medicine Singapore
IS - 7
ER -