As the body’s aging process progresses and worsens, older people need a greater amount and variety of care and attention. The ability they have to function in their day to day, as well as to deal with daily tasks, determines their independence. The Barthel index is responsible for evaluating this, that is, it is a tool to determine the degree of independence of an older person.
The Barthel index was developed in 1955 by the American doctors Barthel and Mahoney, their objective was to develop a tool that would allow evaluating the level of independence and how it affects their quality of life. This scale is based on the measurement of the so-called basic activities of daily living (ABVD). This system is used by official Spanish organizations for procedures such as admission to nursing homes or to offer assistance at home.
The role of the specialized health personnel will be to collect all possible information about the patient’s day-to-day life, through an interview with the patient and with family members or other people in their environment. As well as observe and evaluate the scope of his abilities and his physical and mental condition. Once all this study is done, the patient receives a series of scores, which will be the ones that calculate the degree of her independence.
The Barthel index mainly contemplates five different levels. If the score obtained is 100 points, it is an independent patient. Whereas, if this is lower, but higher than 60 points, it will be a case of slight dependency. On the other hand, if the qualification oscillates between 40 and 59 points, the dependency will be moderate. For patients with a score of 20 to 39, we will be talking about a serious dependency and that will require a greater degree of attention and assistance. If less than 19 points are received, the dependency will be total.
Although it is worth making a clarification and that is that people who are in a wheelchair will not be able to aspire to more than a total of 90 points.
A relevant aspect of the Barthel index is that it contemplates a hierarchy in terms of the different activities and the independence with which they can be carried out. The order is established following the data of the greater frequency with which the patients are able or not to function by carrying out this series of actions: eating, washing themselves, controlling stool and urine, bathing, dressing, using the toilet, mobility between bed and chair, moving around and going up and down stairs.
