Doing housework and having regular daily routine standing out as factors associate with physical function in the older people

Front Public Health. 2023 Nov 28:11:1281291. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1281291. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

Background and objectives: Nationwide data were used to explore factors associated with physical function in order to identify interventions that could improve and maintain physical function in the older people.

Methods: The physical function was assessed by gait speed (GS). We selected 2,677 male and 2,668 female older adults (aged ≥60) who could perform the GS test as study subjects. GS was measured by having subjects walk across and back a 10-m course. A gait speed less than 20% that of a reference population (<0.7 m/s) was used as the definition of slow gait speed (SGS). Co-morbidity, polypharmacy, medical expenses, need for care, and hospitalization were used to evaluate health status. A stepwise logistic regression model was used to determine factors associated with SGS.

Results: SGS was associated with poorer health status, higher medical cost, lower ranking on the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and decreased Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE). Co-morbidity (OR = 1.81, 1.58-2.07), polypharmacy (OR = 1.47, 1.25-1.74), MMSE <24 (OR = 1.85, 1.54-2.22), and GDS ≥ 11 (OR = 1.40, 1.18-1.65) were associated with SGS. In contrast, doing housework (DHW, OR = 0.43, 0.38-0.49), having a regular daily routine (RDR, OR = 0.64, 0.45-0.91), and current alcohol consumption (OR = 0.74, 0.62-0.90) were inversely associated with SGS. DHW plus having RDR could greatly reduce the risk of SGS (OR = 0.29, 0.19-0.43).

Conclusion: Poor physical function is associated with poorer health status in Chinese older people. Maintaining a regular daily routine and doing some housework may be important factors that can help older people preserve their physical function.

Keywords: Geriatric Depression Scale; doing housework; gait speed; lifestyle; mini-mental state examination; physical function.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Alcohol Drinking
  • Comorbidity
  • Female
  • Health Status
  • Household Work*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Walking Speed*

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This study was funded by the China National Key R&D Program during the 13th Five-year Plan Period (2022YFC2010100), National High Level Hospital Clinical Research Funding (BJ-2023-072), 2019 Discipline Construction Project of Peking Union Medical College (201920202102), and Innovative Engineering Project, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (2021-I2M-1-050). The funding body had no role in the design of the study; collection, analysis, and interpretation of data or in writing the manuscript.