Effectiveness of family care intervention program on activity of daily living among disabled patients.

The objective of this prospective study was to compare the improvement of activity of daily living (ADL) scores between two groups of disabled patients who participated in a family care intervention program. 137 patients were selected from health stations and Activity of Daily Living (ADL) scores were assessed eight times over a period of 22 weeks. Family caregivers were trained to provide home nursing care for the disabled. The patients were divided into two groups: early-stage (intervention started less than 6 months from diagnosis) and late-stage (intervention started 7-24 months from diagnosis). Over the duration of the intervention program, the results, using ANCOVA test, showed that the ADL score of the early-stage had group increased by 12.9, compared to the later-stage group, which increased by 3.0 (p < .000). At one-year follow-up, the ADL score of the early-stage group increased by a greater extent (6.2) than the later-stage group (1.3). The factors that affected ADL scores of the survivals were as follows: age, baseline ADL score and duration of disability. The authors conclude that the intervention program was most effective in improving ADL score when intervention was implemented early.