Ghana's older population is projected to increase in coming decades and as a result will see increasing care needs. Understanding the functional difficulties older adults experience, and the associated factors, will help identify relevant intervention to assist older adults in meeting their care needs. This study aimed to analyse the prevalence of functional difficulties among older adults in Ghana, and examine how the World Health Organization International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (WHO-ICF) conceptual framework can relate to toileting difficulty to understand the factors that increase older adults’ care needs. Data were for 5,096 adults aged ⩾50 years from the WHO Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE) Ghana Wave 1. Difficulties were assessed using self-reported difficulty on 22 functional items, including toileting. Multivariate logistic regression tested associations between toileting and other factors as related to the WHO-ICF conceptual framework. Older adults reported climbing one flight of stairs without resting as a common functional difficulty. Difficulty eating was the item least identified. Toileting difficulty was ranked second among five total activities of daily living difficulties. Age, marital status, self-reported health, memory, bodily pain, short- and far-distance vision, obesity, stroke, chronic lung disease, trust at individual and neighbourhood level, toilet facility type, socialising with co-workers, and public and religious meeting attendance were statistically significantly associated with toileting difficulty in the final parsimonious model. Post-hoc analysis testing interaction revealed that interaction existed between female sex and never married marital status (p = 0.04), and obesity and widowed marital status (p = 0.01), with toileting as the outcome. A significant level of functional difficulty existed among Ghanaian older adults in this sample. Toileting difficulty was associated with factors across different components in the WHO-ICF, emphasising functional, social and environmental factors related to this fundamental human activity.

加纳的老年人口预计在未来几十年内将增加，因此，医疗需求将不断增加。了解老年人所遇到的功能性困难以及相关因素，将有助于确定相关干预措施，以帮助老年人满足其护理需求。这项研究旨在分析加纳老年人的功能障碍患病率，并研究世界卫生组织国际功能，残疾与健康分类（WHO-ICF）概念框架如何与如厕困难相关联，以了解导致老年人衰老的因素成人的护理需求。数据来自世界卫生组织关于全球衰老和成人健康（SAGE）加纳浪潮1的WHO研究的5096名年龄在50岁以下的成年人。使用自我报告的难度评估了22个功能性项目的难度，包括洗手间。多元逻辑回归检验了厕所和其他与WHO-ICF概念框架有关的因素之间的关系。老年人报告说，在不休息的情况下爬一梯楼梯是常见的功能困难。进餐困难是最难以确定的项目。厕所困难在五种日常生活困难活动中排名第二。年龄，婚姻状况，自我报告的健康状况，记忆力，身体疼痛，近距离和远距离视力，肥胖，中风，慢性肺病，个人和社区一级的信任，厕所设施类型，与同事进行社交和公众在最终的简约模型中，出席宗教会议的人数与上厕所的难度在统计学上显着相关。多元逻辑回归检验了厕所和其他与WHO-ICF概念框架有关的因素之间的关系。老年人报告说，在不休息的情况下爬一梯楼梯是常见的功能困难。进餐困难是最难以确定的项目。厕所困难在五种日常生活困难活动中排名第二。年龄，婚姻状况，自我报告的健康状况，记忆力，身体疼痛，近距离和远距离视力，肥胖，中风，慢性肺病，个人和社区一级的信任，厕所设施类型，与同事进行社交和公众在最终的简约模型中，出席宗教会议的人数与上厕所的难度在统计学上显着相关。多元逻辑回归检验了厕所和其他与WHO-ICF概念框架有关的因素之间的关系。老年人报告说，在不休息的情况下爬一梯楼梯是常见的功能困难。进餐困难是最难以确定的项目。厕所困难在五种日常生活困难活动中排名第二。年龄，婚姻状况，自我报告的健康状况，记忆力，身体疼痛，近距离和远距离视力，肥胖，中风，慢性肺病，个人和社区一级的信任，厕所设施类型，与同事进行社交和公众在最终的简约模型中，出席宗教会议的人数与上厕所的难度在统计学上显着相关。老年人报告说，在不休息的情况下爬一梯楼梯是常见的功能困难。进餐困难是最难以确定的项目。厕所困难在五种日常生活困难活动中排名第二。年龄，婚姻状况，自我报告的健康状况，记忆力，身体疼痛，近距离和远距离视力，肥胖，中风，慢性肺病，个人和社区一级的信任，厕所设施类型，与同事进行社交和公众在最终的简约模型中，出席宗教会议的人数与上厕所的难度在统计学上显着相关。老年人报告说，在不休息的情况下爬一梯楼梯是常见的功能困难。进餐困难是最难以确定的项目。厕所困难在五种日常生活困难活动中排名第二。年龄，婚姻状况，自我报告的健康状况，记忆力，身体疼痛，近距离和远距离视力，肥胖，中风，慢性肺病，个人和社区一级的信任，厕所设施类型，与同事进行社交和公众在最终的简约模型中，出席宗教会议的人数与上厕所的难度在统计学上显着相关。事后分析测试的交互作用表明，女性和未婚婚姻状况之间存在交互作用（p = 0.04），肥胖和丧偶婚姻状况之间存在交互作用（p = 0.01），结果是如厕。在该样本中，加纳老年人中存在很大程度的功能障碍。上厕所的困难与WHO-ICF不同组成部分的因素有关，强调与这一基本人类活动有关的功能，社会和环境因素。