Abstract:
The older population is increasing worldwide and in many countries older people will
outnumber younger people in the twenty first century. Change in age structure among the
elderly is associated with functional disabilities by limiting performance of daily
activities. . Functional disabilities increase dependency and institutionalization, also they
are associated with higher mortality among elderly people. This study was carried out to
assess functional disabilities in activities of daily living and associated factors among
institutionalized and free living elderly in Misungwi district, Mwanza Tanzania. A cross-
sectional research design was adopted involving a total of 120 elderly people in which 60
respondents were from Bukumbi elderly centre, 30 were randomly selected from Igokelo
ward and 30 from Mabuki ward. A questionnaire-based survey was used to collect
information and data were analysed using SPSS version 20, descriptive statistics was
computed, independent t-test was performed to test median score difference and chi-
square test was performed to determine association and for comparison between two
groups. The study found a significant difference (p=0.0489) on the most leading
functional disability since about a half (51.7%) of institutionalized elderly revealed
mobility as their leading disability while in non-institutionalized respondents the leading
disability was toileting (48.3%). In terms of gender, findings revealed that toileting
disability was more common among males from both institutionalized and non-
institutionalized respondents with 46.3% and 55.5% respectively while mobility disability
was common among female respondents from both institutionalized and non-
institutionalized with 56.2% and 66.7% respectively.
Results of daily energy intake
estimated from 3 food record was significantly higher (p=0.03) among institutionalized
elderly (1632.3g) than non-institutionalized elderly (1317.0g).
Also results showed
significant difference (p=0.0182 ) in terms of nutritional status since more than a half
(58.1%) of institutionalized respondents showed high prevalence of normal status while in non-institutionalized elderly, about a half (53.7%) showed high prevalence in
underweight. In terms of chronic diseases, majority of institutionalized respondents
reported leprosy (40%) as their main chronic diseases while majority of non-
institutionalized respondents reported arthritis (43.8%) as their main chronic diseases. In conclusion, institutionalised elderly appeared to be better off than their counterparts in terms of daily energy intake, nutritional status reflected by their BMI levels and access to health services and chronic diseases were more prevalent in females than males.
