Objective: To evaluate the ability to perform activities of daily living (ADL) and to correlate functional capacity with quality of life (QoL) of hospitalized octogenarians.
Method: A cross-sectional study with 128 patients using the quality of life instruments WHOQOL-OLD and WHOQOL-BREF and the Katz Scale.
Results: The majority of patients was fully dependent; patients with higher schooling had less independence; older adults with partial dependence and independence had higher scores in perceived QoL; in the domains of autonomy, past, present and future activities; and better overall QoL than those with full dependence. Partially dependent patients had higher scores in the death and dying domain than independent patients.
Conclusion: Older adults' QoL is associated with the maintenance of autonomy and functional capacity. Older adults experience a health decline during the hospitalization process, due to the limitation in performing their ADL and lack of encouragement by the health team.