Exploring the factors that influence functional performance among nursing home residents

Abstract

Objective: To promote healthy aging in older nursing home (NH) residents, it is important to identify factors that impact functional performance. Using the Disablement Process Model, it was hypothesized that variables from all levels of the model would significantly impact the ability of a NH resident to get up from a chair.

Method: A stepwise multiple logistic regression model was used to test the impact of sociodemographic, physiologic, physical, psychosocial, and environmental factors on chair rise.

Results: Analysis indicated that three factors, strength, gait, and self-efficacy, were significantly associated with chair-rise ability and together explained approximately 64% of the variance and successfully classified 88.4% of the chair-rise cases.

Discussion: These findings indicate that identifying physical and psychosocial variables early in the disablement process will help health care providers tailor medical and restorative care interventions that may help older adults maintain the ability to chair rise.