Abstract:Objective To explore the correlation of the cognition function and the activities of daily living (ADL) in the elderly of community and its influencing factors, so as to provide the guidance for improving the ADL of community elderly. Methods An investigation was conducted among 1,283 aged people in the community of a city through multi-stage sampling method. The cognition function questionnaire and ADL scale were employed for the investigation. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS 13.0 software package. Results The comparative analysis showed that there were significant differences in the psychological state score, the short-term recall ability and the delayed recall ability among the community elderly people with different age, genders, educational levels, and marital status (P < 0.05). There were significant differences in physical function score, ADLs, and IADLs dimension scores among the community elderly people with different age and educational levels (P < 0.05). There was significant difference in physical function dimension score between the community elderly people with different genders (P < 0.05). There were significant differences in physical function and IADLs dimension scores among the community elderly people with different marital status (P < 0.05). Correlation analysis showed that the cognition function had a negative correlation with ADL (P < 0.05), the distribution of the correlation coefficient r was between -0.337 and -0.143. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that the influencing factors of ADL were demographic characteristics, health behavior styles, chronic diseases and cognition function, their contribution rates were 12.3%, 3.6%, 2.5% and 3.5% respectively. The psychological state score and the short-term memory ability had evident influence on ADL; good mental state and short-term memory ability can improve ADL. Conclusions We should focus on the activities of daily living in community elderly, take various measures to improve cognitive function, and the daily activity ability of community elderly people.