Austrian seniors are becoming increasingly vulnerable

The frequency of limitations in daily activities increased within five years from 12.8 to 17.9 percent for men and from 19.2 to 25.7 percent for women, according to the study by the Karl Landsteiner Institute for Health Promotion Research and with the participation of experts from the Medical University of Vienna and the “House of Mercy”, the largest private healthcare institutions for people in need of serious care in Austria.

“Difficulty with activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) in older adults are associated with decreased quality of life and increased need for long-term care. The current study examined the prevalence of disability among people aged 65 years and older in Austria using data from the Austrian Health Surveys (ATHIS),” the experts wrote.

Health survey data analyzed
Data from the 2014 and 2019 ATHIS surveys was used. It also recorded how often the group of people over 65 years of age have limitations in activities of daily living (ADL, i.e. activities of daily living such as eating, bathing, personal hygiene, etc.). dressing and undressing, mobility, climbing stairs) or in the so-called IADL score (more specific activities such as telephone conversations, shopping, cooking, housework, transport, medicines, financial transactions).

The data from the two research seasons with 5,853 people over 65 were compared. According to the authors, the differences over the five-year period are in any case statistically significant.

More restrictions in daily life
In the more specific activities of daily living, the frequency of limitations among men over 65 years old has almost doubled within five years, from 18.9 to 35.1 percent. In women, the frequency increased from an already high initial level (2014) from 38.2 to 50.8 percent (2019).

In the age group over 80 years, the frequency of limitations in daily activities (ADL, IADL) was more than four times higher than among the younger participants in the ATHIS study. Participants with at least one chronic illness were also four times more likely to report such disabilities.

Also depends on social status
There was also a strong dependency on level of education, social environment (single/married), birth in the EU or outside Europe and place of residence.

The authors of the study in their conclusions: “Gender, age, education, country of birth, place of residence, partnership status, number of chronic diseases, lack of adherence to physical activities and nutritional recommendations are closely associated with an increased susceptibility to disability. Public health policies must take these factors into account in the prevention of disability.”