Functioning and disability analysis by using WHO Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 in older adults Taiwanese patients with dementia

Background: To analyse the disability status of elderly Taiwanese dementia patients by using the World Health Organisation Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0). Methods: We enrolled 12 126 disabled elderly (465 years) patients with dementia during July 2012-January 2014 from the Taiwan Data Bank of Persons with Disability. Trained interviewers evaluated the standardised scores in the six WHODAS 2.0 domains. Student's t test was used for comparing WHODAS 2.0 scores of male and female dementia patients with different age groups. Results: The study population comprised 12 126 patients; 7612 were women and 4514 were men. The WHODAS 2.0 scores showed that the dementia patients had global activity limitation and participation restriction in all domains. Dementia-induced disability was prominent in male patients in all of the domains of the WHODAS 2.0. The domains of life activities, getting along with people and cognition were more strongly affected than the other domains. However, women experienced more rapid functional decline than men did as they aged. Conclusion: The data analysed in this large-scale, population-based study revealed crucial information on dementia-induced disability in elderly patients on the basis of the WHODAS 2.0 framework.