Table 1.
Socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of the study population (n = 135)
| Variable | Total | p |
|---|---|---|
| Age, years (mean ± SD) | 77.7 ± 8.6 | < 0.001 |
| Female sex, n (%) | 66 (48.9) | 0.020 |
| Depressive symptoms, n (%) | 63 (46.7) | < 0.001 |
| Cognitive impairment/dementia, n (%) | 38 (28.1) | 0.335 |
| Balance problems, n (%) | 52 (38.5) | < 0.001 |
| Unintentional weight loss, n (%) | 65 (48.1) | 0.006 |
| Difficulty managing medications, n (%) | 77 (57.0) | 0.147 |
| Difficulty with self-feeding, n (%) | 65 (48.1) | < 0.001 |
Table 2.
Ordinal logistic regression of predictors for disability levels
| Variable | aOR | 95% CI | p |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cognitive impairment/dementia | 8.28 | 1.42–159.83 | 0.054 |
| Depressive symptoms | 3.09 | 1.08–9.88 | 0.043 |
| Sleep–wake disorders | 1.77 | 0.68–4.84 | 0.249 |
| Anxiety disorders | 0.68 | 0.16–3.18 | 0.610 |
| Age group: 70–79 years | 0.82 | 0.27–2.39 | 0.712 |
| Age group: ≥80 years | 4.45 | 1.28–16.16 | 0.020 |
| Sex (female) | 1.00 | 0.43–2.35 | 0.994 |
| Comorbidities | 1.25 | 0.12–29.93 | 0.862 |
[i] aOR - adjusted odds ratio, 95% CI - 95% confidence interval.
Notes: Reference category for age: 60–69 years. Ordinal logistic regression adjusted for age, sex and comorbidities. Outcome variable: degree of disability (no disability, mild/moderate and severe). The proportional odds assumption was assessed using the Brant test; a partial violation was observed for the dementia variable.
Table 3.
Ordinal logistic regression model for functional dependence
| Variable | aOR | 95% CI | p |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cognitive impairment/dementia | 4.19 | 1.34–15.26 | 0.019 |
| Depressive symptoms | 1.87 | 0.82–4.37 | 0.140 |
| Sleep–wake disorders | 1.61 | 0.74–3.55 | 0.235 |
| Anxiety disorders | 1.50 | 0.43–5.33 | 0.522 |
| Age group: 70–79 years | 12.06 | 4.46–34.64 | <0.001 |
| Age group: ≥80 years | 29.45 | 3.84–628.51 | 0.005 |
| Sex (female) | 0.87 | 0.42–1.81 | 0.717 |
| Comorbidities | 3.67 | 0.45–39.44 | 0.244 |
[i] aOR - adjusted odds ratio, 95% CI - 95% confidence interval.
Notes: Reference category for age: 60–69 years. Ordinal logistic regression (proportional odds model) adjusted for age, sex and comorbidities. Outcome variable: functional dependence severity (mild, moderate and severe). The proportional odds assumption was evaluated using the Brant test (global p = 0.07); a partial violation was observed for the dementia variable.
Table 4.
Ordinal logistic regression models for disability and functional dependence according to clinical and functional factors
| Variable | Disability OR | 95% CI | p-value | Dependence OR | 95% CI | p |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balance problems | 2.90 | 1.84–4.57 | <0.001 | 2.83 | 1.96–4.08 | < 0.001 |
| Unintentional weight loss | 3.11 | 1.30–7.49 | 0.010 | 3.69 | 1.54–8.86 | 0.003 |
| Difficulty with self-feeding | 8.36 | 2.08–33.71 | 0.003 | 5.57 | 2.39–12.99 | < 0.001 |
| Difficulty managing medications | 6.91 | 5.14-55.59 | <0.001 | 3.13 | 2.29–3.98 | < 0.001 |
| Age group: ≥80 years | 4.45 | 1.28-16.16 | 0.020 | 29.45 | 3.84–628.51 | 0.005 |
Table 5.
Sensitivity analysis comparing different definitions of functional impairment and neuropsychiatrics predictors
| Variable | aOR | 95% CI | p |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dementia | 7.75 | 0.94–64.29 | 0.058 |
| Depressive disorder | 1.89 | 0.68–5.26 | 0.226 |
| Sleep–wake disorders | 1.73 | 0.65–4.56 | 0.270 |
| Anxiety disorders | 0.87 | 0.21–3.70 | 0.855 |
| Age group: ≥80 years | 5.29 | 2.01–13.88 | 0.001 |
| Sex (female) | 0.80 | 0.33–1.92 | 0.611 |
| Comorbidities | 1.54 | 0.13–17.65 | 0.730 |
1 aOR - adjusted odds ratio, 95% CI - 95% confidence interval.
Notes: Binary logistic regression models were fitted comparing dependent disability versus non-dependent disability (the latter including no disability and independent disability). Models were adjusted for age, sex and comorbidities. p < 0.05 denotes statistical significance.