Mohammadreza Shahbazi, Mahshid Foroughan, Mahdi Rahgozar, Reza Salman Roghani
Aging Department, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran
DOI: 10.2340/16501977-2115

Objective: To assess the effects of a rehabilitation service package designed by the State Welfare Organization of Iran for adult day care centres on the disability of older clients.
Methods: A case-control study, with 46 older participants in the case group and 46 participants, matched for level of disability, in a control group. The World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2 was used to collect data at 4 time-points: baseline and 2, 4, and 6 months later. Data were analysed using repeated-measures analysis of variation.
Results: The rehabilitation service package had significant effects on the disability scores of older users of day care services. The disability scores significantly changed within the subjects (p = 0. 010) and between the 2 groups (p < 0. 001). Within-subjects effects in all 6 domains (“understanding and communication” (p = 0. 002), “getting around” (p = 0. 046), “self-care” (p < 0. 001), “getting along with people” (p < 0. 001), “life activity” (p < 0. 001) and “participation” (p < 0. 001)) and between-subjects effects, in all except the “self-care” domain, showed significant differences during the 6-month study period (p = 0. 003, p < 0. 001, p <0. 001, p < 0. 001, and p < 0. 001, respectively).
Conclusion: The adult day care service package may have a positive role in decreasing measures of disability among older persons over a 6-month period.