Comparison of the Effects of Different Living Environments in Geriatric Individuals: A Pilot Study

Cognitive performance evaluation

Standardized Mini Mental Test (SMMT) was used. It is used for the quantitative evaluation of cognitive performance within the standard neuropsychiatric examination methods. The test is a short, useful, and a standardized method that can be used globally to determine the cognitive level. It is evaluated in 11 items and under 5 main titles and over a total of 30 points. Low score refers to severe cognitive impairment.

Time frame: 10 minutes after obtaining socio-demographic information (It was done between the 10th and 25th minutes of the assessment)

Pain severity assessment

Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) that is an easy, reproducible, minimal tool-requiring, and understandable measurement tool for the assessment of pain intensity was used. This scale consists of a horizontal, straight line. There is a value of 0 at the beginning of the line and 10 at the end.

Time frame: 25 minutes after obtaining socio-demographic information (It was done between the 25th and 30th minutes of the assessment)

Balance assessment

Berg Balance Scale (BDI) was used to measure balance performance in geriatric individuals. It is often used in clinical trials to assess postural control and predict the risk of falls. The test is made difficult by reducing the ground support. This test consists of 14 items and each section is rated between 0 (bad) and 4 (best). The high score indicates the best balance. 0-20 indicates high risk, 21-40 indicates moderate risk and 41-64 indicates low risk.

Time frame: 30 minutes after obtaining socio-demographic information. After the visual analogue scale evaluation, the geriatric individuals were rested for 5 minutes (It was done between the 35th and 50th minutes of the assessment).

Evaluation of Depression score

Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) was used. It consists of 30 self-report questions. In the scoring of the scale, 1 point is given to each answer that suggests depression, and 0 is given for the other answers, and the final score is considered as the depression score. A cut off value of 0-10 was defined as the absence of depression, 11-13 as "probable depression," and 14 and above as "definite depression."

Time frame: 50 minutes after obtaining socio-demographic information (It was done between the 50th and 60th minutes of the assessment).

Activities of daily living

Barthel Index (BI) was used. The Barthel index consists of 10 main items. The items measure feeding, transferring from bed to wheelchair and to and from a toilet, grooming, bathing, walking on a level surface (or propelling a wheelchair if unable to walk), going up and down the stairs, dressing and undressing, controlling bladder and controlling bowel. The total score is between 0 and 100 and scores of 0-20 indicate "total" dependency, 21-60 indicate "severe" dependency, 61-90 indicate "moderate" dependency, 91-99 indicates "slight" dependency and 100 indicate "total" independency.

Time frame: 60 minutes after obtaining socio-demographic information. After the geriatric depression scale evaluation, the geriatric individuals were rested for 5 minutes. (It was done between the 65th and 70th minutes of the assessment).

Assessment of Quality of life

Short Form 36 (SF-36) was used. It is a scale that has a generic scale feature and provides extensive measurement. It consists of 36 questions under 8 subheadings. Low scores indicate deterioration in the quality of life.

Time frame: It was completed after 70 minutes obtaining socio-demographic information.