The Relationship Between Levels of Care and Physical Functioning in Community-Dwelling Elderly Women

Abstract

: We compared physical and cognitive function, daily life activity, and the char-acteristics among community-dwelling elderly women. Participants were categorized into Independent (20 women considered independent), Support (19 women needing category 1 and 2 support), and Nursing care (21 women needing category 1 and 2 nursing care) groups.We evaluated grip strength, 10-s chair stand test (CS-10), timed up-and-go test (TUG), functional reach test, 5-m maximum walking time (5 MWT), center-of-gravity sway test, Mini-Mental State Examination, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology Index. CS-10 was significantly higher in the Independent group than the Support and the Nursing care groups. TUG was significantly higher in the Independent group than the Nursing care group. Center-of-gravity sway test was significantly higher in the Independent and the Support groups, respectively, than the Nursing care group. The Independent group showed significantly higher physical functions than the Support and Nursing care groups. There were no significant differences in physical functions between the Support group and Nursing care group, therefore static balance functions are the attribution for the levels of care.