Health status of participants of adult day care centers.

This study compared the medical conditions found in 183 participants of 5 suburban adult day care programs to the medical and mental health status of community-dwelling elderly persons. Analysis revealed that adult day care center participants are very similar to the community-dwelling elderly population in most health indicators, but suffer from much higher rates of dementia and associated functional disabilities. Moreover, those day care participants who do not suffer from dementia tend to suffer from a psychiatric disorder (e.g., major depression, adjustment disorder). These results show that adult day care has become a facility with a primary mental health function.