Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Jun 4;18(1):132.
doi: 10.1186/s12877-018-0830-3.

Association between stairs in the home and instrumental activities of daily living among community-dwelling older adults

Kimiko Tomioka  1 , Norio Kurumatani  2 , Hiroshi Hosoi  2
Affiliations

Association between stairs in the home and instrumental activities of daily living among community-dwelling older adults

Kimiko Tomioka et al. BMC Geriatr. .

Abstract

Background: There is insufficient evidence regarding the relationship of home environment with functional capacity among community-dwelling older people without disabilities. We conducted a population-based longitudinal cohort study and examined whether stairs in the home were associated with capability to perform instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) in community-dwelling high-functioning older adults.

Methods: The target population was individuals aged 65 years or older living in two municipalities in Nara Prefecture in Japan. At the baseline survey, residents who were independent in IADL (n = 6722) were included as survey subjects. Subjects were divided into three groups according to their home type; one-storey residences, walk-up residences, or residences with an elevator. IADL was evaluated using the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology Index of Competence. Multiple logistic regression analyses stratified by gender were used to calculate the odds ratio (OR) and a 95% confidence interval (CI) for a decline in IADL, with one-storey residences as a reference. Age, studied area, marital status, working status, self-perceived economic status, body mass index, chronic diseases, smoking, drinking, eating habits, basic activities of daily living, cognitive functioning, depression, self-rated health, and social participation were used as covariates.

Results: During the 3-year follow-up, 11.6% of the subjects showed a decline in IADL. After adjusting for covariates, women who lived in walk-up residences had a lower risk for IADL decline (adjusted OR = 0.72, 95% CI = 0.52-0.99), while living in a home with an elevator was not associated with IADL decline (adjusted OR = 0.94, 95% CI = 0.49-1.77). In contrast, there was no association between home type and IADL decline in men (walk-up residences, adjusted OR = 0.90, 95% CI = 0.71-1.14; residences with an elevator, adjusted OR = 0.82, 95% CI = 0.39-1.72).

Conclusions: The presence of stairs in the home was associated with prevention of IADL decline over a 3-year period in older women without disabilities. Although a barrier-free house is recommended for older people, our findings indicate that a home with stairs may maintain the capability to perform IADL among older adults without disabilities.

Keywords: Home type; Instrumental activities of daily living; Older people; Stairs; Successful aging.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

This study was approved by the Nara Medical University Ethics Committee (approval numbers 939 and 991). All study participants provided signed informed consent. If the participant could not give informed consent due to reduced cognitive functioning, physical impairment, and/or severe illness, we asked a relative (normally a spouse or an adult child) to give a proxy consent for the person’s participation, and received written informed consent from a relative.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow chart of selection of analyzed and excluded subjects. IADL, instrumental activities of daily living
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. United Nations . Department of Economic and Social Affairs World Population Prospects. New York: UN: The 2015 Revision; 2015.
    1. Ministry of Health, Labour and welfare . White Paper on Aging Society 2017. Tokyo: Government of Japan; 2017.
    1. Tsutsui T, Muramatsu N. Care-needs certification in the long-term care insurance system of Japan. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2005;53:522–527. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2005.53175.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare . Report on Long-term Care Services 2015. Tokyo: Government of Japan; 2015.
    1. Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. In order to realize Community-based Integrated Care Systems [Internet]. [cited 31 Jan. 2018]. Available from: http://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/hukushi_kaigo/kaigo_kour....

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources