. Injuries can restrict the mobility of the elderly, or cause them to be hospitalized. This worsens the physical function of the elderly, especially for the physically weakened old people. Dr. Thomas M Gil (Thomas M. Gill), a professor at the Yale University and Yale-New Haven Hospital, said: "the decline in physical function of the elderly is a complex dynamic process. Compared with the past, we have a deeper understanding of this.
the loss of basic daily living capacity (such as bathing and dressing) is very common among the elderly, which is associated with higher mortality, higher hospitalization, and more formal or informal home service. However, many old people will lose their ability to recover. Gil pointed out that elderly people have lost their physical function, although the rate of recovery is very high, but the change is very frequent; he also said that in the past, people did not know the role of disease and injury to these changes, our study may reveal the reasons.
Gil and his collaborators have lasted for more than ten years. Since 1998, 754 elderly people in greater New Haven have been interviewed by telephone once a month. The team assessed the various abilities loss of these elderly people and determined the occurrence of disease and injury. Every 18 months, they also assessed the degree of physical weakness (slow walking) of the elderly, and lasted for 9 years. In addition, the team also evaluated the relationship between the two interventions of hospitalization and activity restriction, and recorded the transition between incapacity loss, loss of mild ability, and severe loss of ability. The
research team found that 637 of the subjects had at least one physical function change, of which 90.7% of the elderly had at least one hospitalization, and 94.3% of the elderly had at least one month's limit of activity. Of the 9 types of functional changes, 8 are related to hospitalization. Among the possible causes of inpatient or activity limitation, fall related injuries are most likely to lead to new ability loss or to increase the loss of original ability.
Gil points out that, despite the decline in the prevalence of loss of capacity over the last 20 years, the number of disabled elderly in the United States may increase significantly in the coming years as the baby boomers gradually enter the elderly. "Because of the loss of capacity and even permanent loss, people need to work more actively to prevent the management of diseases and injuries," Gil said.
comment: illness or injury - physical function decline, more likely to be sick or injured again illness or injury... This is a vicious circle. Therefore, preventing this vicious cycle from forming or interrupting the vicious cycle already formed is of great significance for prolonging the life time and improving the quality of life.