Activities performed by a person in the course of a normal day include bathing, dressing, grooming, eating, walking, taking medications, and other forms of personal care. The inability to accomplish essential activities of daily living may lead to unsafe conditions and poor quality of life.
Deeper dive
The activities of daily living are classified into basic ADLs and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs). The basic ADLs (BADL) or physical ADLs are skills a person must have to manage basic physical needs, including personal hygiene or grooming, dressing, toileting, transferring or ambulating and eating. The Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs) include more complex activities related to the ability to live independently in the community. This includes activities such as managing finances and medications, food preparation, housekeeping and laundry.
Basic ADLs include:
● Ambulating: The extent of an individual’s ability to move from one position to another and walk independently.
● Feeding: The ability of a person to feed oneself.
● Dressing: The ability to select appropriate clothes and to put the clothes on.
● Personal hygiene: The ability to bathe and groom oneself and maintain dental hygiene, nail, and hair care.
● Continence: The ability to control bladder and bowel function
● Toileting: The ability to get to and from the toilet, using it appropriately, and cleaning oneself.
Musculoskeletal, neurological, circulatory or sensory conditions can lead to decreased physical function, resulting in impaired ADLs. Cognitive or mental decline can also affect one’s ability to perform ADLs. Other factors such as side effects of medications, social isolation or the patient’s home environment can influence the ability to perform ADLs. Hospitalization and acute illnesses have also been associated with a decline in ADLs.
Measuring an individual’s ADLs is an important predictor of nursing home admission, the need for alternative living arrangements, hospitalization, and use of paid home care. The outcome of a treatment program can also be assessed by reviewing a patient’s ADLs, according to StatPearls.