Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura.
Abstract
Objectives: The proportion of elderly people living in institutions has increased in Sri Lanka duringthe recent decades as a result of population aging and ongoing sociocultural changes. Cognitivefunctions that are important for goal directed behavior will be increasingly important for independentliving. Inhibitory control of irrelevant information (IC) is such cognitive process vital for this. Hencethis study was conducted to assess the level of inhibitory control and associated factors among elderlypeople living in elderly care institutions in Galle District.Methods: Study was conducted in 190 elderly people living in institutions who are physicallyindependent with Barthel’s index score of more than 90. IC was assessed via computerized stroopinhibitory task. Number of errors was calculated to assess the level of inhibitory control. Groupdifferences were assessed through independent sample t test and significant level was kept at p<0.05.Results: The sample comprised of 69.5% (n=132) females with a mean age of 71.78 years (+6.5). Meannumber of errors of the stroop tasks was 8.88 (+3.99). The number of errors in the stroop inhibitory taskwas significantly lower among females (n=132, p<0.01) who have had above secondary education(n=33, p<0.05), who engaged in group (n=153, p<0.05) and leisure time activities (n=173, p<0.05) andwho were younger than 70 years of age (n=78, p<0.01).Conclusions: IC was significantly associated with age, educational status, gender, engagement in groupand leisure time activities among the study sample
