Evaluation of care dependency among elderly residents of nursing homes in Ahvaz city in 2012

Maintaining independence and attention to needs of elder people have always been one of the main goals of care-givers and policy-makers in the field of elderly care. This study was performed to investigate the determination of care dependency among elderly residents of nursing homes in Ahvaz city in 2012. This research was a cross-sectional study of descriptive-analytical type which was carried out on 154 elders with an age over 60 years residing in nursing homes in Ahvaz city. Sampling was performed using stratified sampling method. Data collecting instruments were “Care Dependency Scale”, “Demographic Questionnaire” and “Mini-Mental State Examination”. For data analysis, Chi square test, one-way ANOVA, t-test independent and Pearson correlation coefficient tests were used. The results indicated that 72.7% of elderly were dependent. There was a high correlation between care dependency and aspects of care dependency scale (p<0.01). The mean score of care dependency was 47.38 and the mean items score of the care dependency scale for the total sample was 47.25. The variables age (p=0.03), education (p=0.001), having disease (p=0.001) and disability (p=0.032) had significant relationship with care dependency. In this study, elderly who were better in performing daily living activities certainly needed less care. The knowledge of elderly needs and their capability in performing daily activities may enable care-givers and families to provide more proper services with their need.