Activities of daily living on nursing home patients

Americans ages 65 years or older represent 12.6% of the U.S. population. This number is projected to increase to 40 million in 2011 and to 55 million in 2020. This study examines the relationship between an elderly population that is dependent on assistance for help with Activities of Daily Living (ADL) services and data was analyzed to determine the relationship between needing help with ADL services, depression and participants' gender, age, race and marital status.;Data from 13,507 participants from the 2004 National Nursing Home Survey (NNHS) were used for the study. Patients who reported a need for help with bathing, dressing, toileting and eating were found to be significantly more depressed than patients who did not need assistance with these ADL services.;Practical implications and future directions are discussed.