# Functional Status and Comorbidities in Older Patient Attending Outpatient in a Tertiary Care Hospital: An Observational Study

## TL;DR

This study examines the functional status and common health issues in older patients visiting a hospital in Nepal.

## Contribution

The study provides insights into comorbidities and functional independence in older adults in Nepal using standardized assessment tools.

## Key findings

- Most patients were independent in basic daily activities according to the Katz Index.
- About 40% were independent in more complex daily tasks according to the Lawton scale.
- Over 40% of participants had at least one comorbidity.

## Abstract

With the increasing geriatric population, the demand of the geriatric care has been increasing worldwide. Numerous comorbidities like hypertension, COPD, diabetes mellitus, arthritis, are seen commonly in the older population of Nepal, affecting their quality of life. Assessing functional status of individual using Basic Activities of Daily Living and Instrumental Activities of Daily Life scoring is beneficial in predicting the mortality and morbidity among the group. This study hence focuses on determining the comorbidities and functional status of older population.

This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from February 2024 to May 2024 in tertiary care hospital at Kathmandu among population of age group above 60 years, after taking ethical approval from Institutional Review Committee (Reference number: 19012024/04). A total of 423 individuals were taken for the study. Data collection for socio-demographic information, comorbidities, functional assessment via Katz and Lawton scale was done and analysed using IBM SPSS.

Among the total 423 participants visiting the outpatient department, 188 (44.44%) were males and 235 (55.56%) were females. Basic Activity of Daily Living using Katz scoring, suggested that 377 (89.13%; 95% CI: 85.76%-91.93%)) were independent. Using Lawton scoring for the assessment of Instrumental Activities of Daily Living, it was seen that 170 (40.19%; 95% CI: 35.48%-45.03%) were independent. There were 184 (43.50%) individual with comorbidities.

Most of the patients were independent in Basic Activities of Daily Living as per Katz Index of independence and almost half were independent in Instrumental Activities of Daily Living as per Lawton-Brody scale.