The objective of the present study was to identify the five most prevalent activities of daily life which led to limited functional capabilities among elders residing in the urban area of a rural county of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. This activities were also analyzed according to gender and age. The research counted upon the participation of 2924 elders interviewed at their residences, selected by the proportional stratified sample technique, considering neighborhoods as extracts. The data was processed through double input in the database, EpiInfo 3.2, and analyzed by descriptive measurements, chi2 tests and "Fisher’s exact" (p<0.05). The most prevalent activities were: cut toenails (18.93); shopping (9.4), use stairs (4.77), medicate on time (4.12) and walk close to the house (3.82). There are a higher proportion of females suffering from limited functional capability than males. Regarding age, both genders presented a higher proportion of limited capabilities among people older than 80.
Aged; Aging; Geriatric nursing