Use and attitude towards assistive device among elderly population attending Outpatient department of a tertiary care hospital of Darjeeling, West Bengal

Background: Elderly suffer from age-related limitations like mobility issues and sensory impairments, depend on others for daily activities. Assistive device will help them to perform daily tasks that might otherwise be difficult or impossible. The study aims to estimate the proportion of assistive device user among elderly patients and to find out attitude and barriers towards assistive device use. Methodology: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out among 161 elderly attending the outdoor of a tertiary care hospital of Darjeeling, West-Bengal. A questionnaire-based study tool was used for data collection. The Socio-demographic characteristics, use of assistive devices and attitude and barriers of assistive device use were explored. Results: The majority of the study participants belonged to 60-65 years of age (48.4%), were male (57%) and rural people (74%). 37.8% were partially dependent on others for their daily activities. 59% participants were using assistive devices. Among them 91.5% were using mobility devices and 8.5% were using hearing devices. 96.8% said they had improved quality of life after AD use. Majority agreed that using AD devices reduce stress on family care-givers (80%), enable to perform daily activities (75.2%), plays an important role in social life (72%), increases self-confidence (73.3%). Perceived barriers of AD use were regarding cost (74.5%), fear of dependency (57.7%), technical illiteracy (55.2%), embarrassment (54.6%) etc. Conclusion: Elderly reported positive experiences with ADs, barriers such as cost and fear of dependency also expressed. By addressing these issues, healthcare providers and policymakers can contribute to the well-being and independence of the growing elderly population.