To the Editor:
I read with great interest Dr. Ardalan et al’s paper entitled “Impact of the 26 December 2003 Bam Earthquake on Activities of Daily Living and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living of Older People”(Volume 26 - Issue 02)
We would like to congratulate the Authors for undertaking this five-year study. Having been involved in various aspects of the Bam earthquake I feel that several points merit mention:
Firstly, I would like to point out that the population under study was aged 60 to 90 years. In this age group one would naturally anticipate a decline in both ADL and IADL after 5 yrs. because of senility. Thus, it would in my opinion, have been more appropriate to study IADL in the 20–40 yr. age group because this age group is in the working age. While those 60 + are retired.
Furthermore, the authors conclude a decrease in both ADL and IADL in Bam survivors; to prove this and link this decline to the earthquake, it would have been prudent to also assess ADL and IADL in the normal population as controls so as to have a baseline for comparison and to see if the amount of decline is statistically significant or not.
