EPIDEMIOLOGY OF SELF-DEPENDENCE AMONG KUWAITI ELDERLY POPULATION OF ABDULLAH AL-SALEM AREA

assess the severity of cognitive impairment and to follow the progression of the impairment, a score of less than 24 was considered abnormal[ 7,9,1 0,11 ]. Assessment of nutrition in the old was made t h rough checking for evidence of weight loss. Nutritional risk was accomplished through asking about weight loss of more than 10 pounds in the past year followed by assessing the adequacy of dietary intake[ 7,9,1 0,11 ]. The adequacy of social support was defined as having stable, healthy and clean home environment, living with social contacts and having a care-giver. Results were classified as highly adequate when all criteria were present, adequate when most were present (4 out of 6) and not adequate when less than two criteria were present . Patients who were found to have physical or mental disabilities were given follow-up arrangements or home visits, those who had social problems, their problems were discussed with the caregivers and some were re f e r red to social workers.

Sample
A random sample of Kuwaiti individuals 65 years of age and above who were currently receiving medical care in Abdullah Al-Salem Health Center was chosen for the study. Patients were contacted by telephone, those who could come were seen in the clinic and those who could not, were seen at home. The objectives of the study were carefully explained to each patient or the concerned relative/s. Permission for a thorough physical assessment and agreement to participate fully in the interview were considered as an informed consent. Agreement for participation in the interview was taken from 

all patients selected or from their care-givers. Subjects were free to drop-out of the study, if there was a need to do so.

In all, 113 patients, males and females, currently receiving medical care participated in this study. Eighty-seven patients were seen in the clinic while 26 were seen at their homes where the interviews w e re continued with the care-givers and assessment performed by the author. Fifteen patients died during the course of this study.

Data Analysis
Questions were phrased in Arabic and the questionnaire was pilot-tested on a random sample of 20 patients selected from waiting rooms in the clinic to assess the easiness of the questions to the patients and their understanding of each question. The wording of some of the questions was modified before the formal administration of the questionnaire. Reassurance for the respondents for confidentiality of the information and results was offered. All data management and analyses were done using the SPSS Statistical Program.