Functional capacity and life satisfaction of elderly people: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Introduction: Aging is a continuous and irreversible process that involves biopsychosocial changes and leads to a functional decline, potentially resulting in limitations, disabilities, and/or restrictions, which affect autonomy and independence in performing instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs). Objective: To correlate functional capacity in IADLs with life satisfaction among elderly individuals participating in the “Mexa-se pela Vida” project in Belém do Pará. Method: This is a cross-sectional, observational, descriptive, and analytical study involving 55 elderly participants. The Mini-Mental State Examination, the Lawton and Brody Scale, and the Satisfaction With Life Scale were used. Categorical variables were presented as frequencies and numerical variables as measures of central tendency and dispersion. The Spearman correlation test was used with a significance level of 5% (p≤0.05). Results: A significant association was found between the Lawton and Brody Scale and the Satisfaction With Life Scale (p=0.02), indicating that a higher level of functionality in IADLs is associated with greater life satisfaction. Furthermore, there was a significant inverse association between age and the Lawton and Brody Scale (p=0.004), showing that younger elderly individuals tend to have a higher degree of independence. No significant association was found between age and life satisfaction (p=0.77). Conclusion: The results indicate that a higher level of functional independence in instrumental activities of daily living corresponds to greater individual life satisfaction.