Psychosocial Correlates of Every Day Functional Competence in the Elderly

Deterioration of functional competence is one of the markers of old age. Low functional competence imposes not only restrictions in mobility and increases dependency during old age which in turn leads to low self-esteem and depression. This study is an attempt to assess the psychosocial correlates of functional competence in a sample of 300 elderly living in semi urban areas of Chittoor District.  Patterns of functional competence were measured through ADL, IADL, PBADL and SPFC. Findings reveal that functional competence correlated with physical and mental activities, social supports, health practices, age, gender and economic groups etc.  The outcome of the study highlights the need for rehabilitation services for the need based vulnerable elderly.