Performance pattern of activities of daily living for older adults in the city of São Paulo in 2000, 2006, and 2010.

Introduction: Functionality in aging is associated with the autonomy and independence of older people.
Objective: To identify and hierarchize the difficulties reported by older adults in performing activities of daily living.
Method: This is a cross-sectional, descriptive, household-based study that used the Health, Well-being, and Aging Study (Saúde, Bem-Estar e Envelhecimento - SABE) database of 2000, 2006, and 2010. We evaluated the functionality using reports on the difficulty in performing basic and instrumental activities of daily living (ADL and IADL, respectively). The Guttman scaling assessed the hierarchy of functional impairment.
Results: The prevalence of reported difficulty in performing one or more IADLs was 35.4, 45.8, and 41.0%; while for ADLs, it was 16.3, 13.3, and 17.5%, in 2000, 2006, and 2010, respectively. In ten years of follow-up, the variability in prevalence among women ranged from 42.3 to 54.6% for IADL impairment, and 17.0 to 20.4% for ADL. For men, it varied from 25.6 to 33.1% for IADL impairment, and 8.0 to 13.7% for ADL. In the three waves, the activities with the highest reported difficulty were using transportation, performing heavy tasks, and managing finances, while feeding was the least prevalent.
Conclusion: The prevalence of functional impairment increased in ten years, with higher variability among women and with advancing age. These results contribute to the planning of services and adequate distribution of existing resources as they reveal the needs and care required.