Date Presented Accepted for AOTA INSPIRE 2021 but unable to be presented due to online event limitations.
A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence of physical function disabilities and determine the frequency of assistive technology (AT) use among low-income older Hispanics. The prevalence of functional disabilities was 57.8%. Women were 2.86 times more likely to report a disability than men. The frequency of AT use was low. This highlights the urgent need for AT interventions to address the functional needs of older Hispanic women from low-income communities.
Primary Author and Speaker: Elsa Orellano
Contributing Authors: Marta Rivero-Méndez, Erick L. Suárez-Pérez, Claudia X. Boneu-Meléndez, Jefrey W. Jutai, Mauricio Lizama-Troncoso, Ivonne Z. Jiménez-Velázquez, and Nelson Varas-Diaz
PURPOSE: Functional disabilities, a major adverse outcome of age-related chronic conditions, disproportionally affects older adults from low-income communities (Okoro et al., 2018). Although assistive technology (AT) may improve function and allow older people to live longer at home or in the community, access to appropriate AT is a challenge for people living in those communities (Matter et al., 2016). A raised awareness of current AT use to overcome disabilities in daily activities may enable the prevention of functional deterioration among minorities. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of physical function disabilities that can be compensated by AT, compare the prevalence of functional disabilities between men and women, and determine the frequency of AT use for activities of daily living among older Hispanics.
DESIGN: We conducted a cross-sectional study design to collect data from 211 randomly selected and cognitively sound adults 65 years and older, living in a low-income community in Puerto Rico and surveyed during the years 2019-2020.
METHOD: Data were obtained using a socio-demographic and AT use questionnaire and the PROMIS® Physical Function Short Form-20. To calculate the prevalence of physical function disability, we defined a disability as having a final T-score < 45 in the PROMIS Physical Function Form. We used a logistic regression model to estimate the magnitude of the association between disability and sex and other factors.
RESULTS: The reported prevalence of functional disabilities among the study cohort was 57.8% (n = 122). The reported prevalence of functional need was higher among older women (68%); persons 85 years or older (57%), those with an educational level less than high school (59.1%), those who were widowers (63.85%), those who live with more than two persons (57.3%), and those who reported an annual income in the category of $5,000-$9,999. The estimated odds of having a functional disability among female is 2.86 (95% CI: 1.62, 5.03) times the estimated odds of being with disability among males (p < 0.001). The most frequently used AT devices to compensate their physical function disabilities were: electric can openers (30.3%); canes (22.8%); jar openers (20.4%); long handle bath sponge/brushes (19.9%); grab bars (17.5%); and nonslip bath mats (14.2%).
CONCLUSION: A large prevalence of low-income older adults has physical function disabilities, that disproportionally affect more women than men. In spite of this disability burden, AT devices that might compensate for these disabilities are being underused by older people who are most in need.
IMPACT STATEMENT: These findings highlight the urgent need for policies and occupational therapy AT interventions to address the functional disability needs of older adults from low-income communities, as well as the need for targeted interventions to improve women’s access to opportunities to live longer at home.
References
Matter, R., Harniss, M., Oderud, T., Borg, J., & Eide, A. H. (2017). Assistive technology in resource-limited environments: a scoping review. Disability and rehabilitation. Assistive technology, 12(2), 105–114. https://doi.org/10.1080/17483107.2016.1188170
Okoro, C. A., Hollis, N. D., Cyrus, A. C., & Griffin-Blake, S. (2018). Prevalence of Disabilities and Health Care Access by Disability Status and Type Among Adults - United States, 2016. MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report, 67(32), 882–887. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6732a3
