Everyday life is full of numerous demands for attention that can affect the ability to function. For older people, examples of these attentional demands include physical discomforts, managing transportation, and worries. As described in relation to the Kaplan Attention Restoration Theory, attentional demands are factors that can overwhelm and fatigue the neural mechanisms responsible for cognitive processes, including directed attention, a type of selective attention necessary for concentration. When attentional demands impair the ability to use directed attention, people have difficulty focusing on complex tasks, carrying out plans, making decisions, remembering, and generally managing the daily routines of life. Little research exists regarding the effects of attentional demands on older people’s abilities to carry out common daily activities requiring directed attention. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between attentional demands and the ability to manage daily life activities for a convenience sample of 54 community-dwelling elders (34 women, 20 men; ages 65-87 years, M=75.7 years). The Attentional Demands Survey, a 42-item Likert-type scale instrument, was used to measure four domains of attentional demands: Physical-environmental, informational, behavioral, and affective. The Attentional Function Index, a 16-item visual analogue scale instrument, was used to assess daily functioning performance on common activities requiring directed attention. As theorized, attentional demands correlated (r=-.58) significantly with the elders’ perceptions of their performance on activities: Elders who experienced more attentional demands perceived themselves as having greater difficulty managing day-to-day tasks requiring directed attention. Attentional demands accounted for a significant proportion of variance in functioning (12%), even after partially out the effects of depressive symptoms and health. These findings provide support for the theorized relationship between attentional demands and daily functioning, and nursing interventions aimed at decreasing attentional demands in order to promote effective functioning and well-being for older people.
Session #1210 - Elder Issues in the Community
The 29th Annual MNRS Research Conference (April 1-4, 2005)