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NCHS

Limitations in Activities of Daily Living and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living, 2003-2007

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These tables show frequency distributions of limitations in activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) by age. Two sets of ADL tables are provided that use different levels of aggregation. Data are from the 2003-2007 National Health Interview Surveys and represent average annual numbers and rates. Combining five years of data is necessary in order to obtain large enough cell sizes to produce reliable estimates.

Table 1. Frequency distributions of number of limitation in activities of daily living (ADLs) by age: United States, 2003-2007
Limitation in activities of daily living (ADL)1
Age Total None 1 2 3+
Number in thousands2
18+ years 217,887 214,439 802 720 1,891
18-44 years 110,531 110,045 93 111 276
18-24 years 28,304 28,182 27 24 70
25-34 years 39,194 39,050 29 32 81
35-44 years 43,033 42,813 37 55 125
45-54 years 42,091 41,657 98 107 228
55-64 years 30,133 29,641 121 96 272
65+ years 35,132 33,097 490 406 1,116
65-74 years 18,613 18,060 130 119 299
75-84 years 12,625 11,846 179 154 439
85+ years 3,894 3,191 181 133 378

1 Activities of daily living (ADLs) include needing the help of other persons with bathing or showering, dressing, eating, getting in or out of bed or chairs, using the toilet, including getting to the toilet, and getting around inside the home.

2 Unknowns for the columns are not included in the frequencies, but they are included in the "Total" column.

NOTE: National Health Interview Survey, 2003-2007. Estimates are based on household interviews of a sample of the civilian noninstiturionalized population.

Table 2. Percent distributions of number of limitation in activities of daily living (ADLs) by age: United States, 2003-2007
Limitation in activities of daily living (ADL)1
Age Total None 1 2 3+
Percent distribution (standard error)2
18+ years 100.0 98.4 (0.03) 0.4 (0.01) 0.3 (0.01) 0.9 (0.02)
18-44 years 100.0 99.6 (0.02) 0.1 (0.01) 0.1 (0.01) 0.2 (0.01)
18-24 years 100.0 99.6 (0.04) 0.1 (0.02) 0.1 (0.02) 0.2 (0.03)
25-34 years 100.0 99.6 (0.03) 0.1 (0.01) 0.1 (0.01) 0.2 (0.02)
35-44 years 100.0 99.5 (0.03) 0.1 (0.01) 0.1 (0.02) 0.3 (0.02)
45-54 years 100.0 99.0 (0.05) 0.2 (0.03) 0.3 (0.02) 0.5 (0.03)
55-64 years 100.0 98.4 (0.07) 0.4 (0.03) 0.3 (0.03) 0.9 (0.05)
65+ years 100.0 94.3 (0.13) 1.4 (0.06) 1.2 (0.05) 3.2 (0.09)
65-74 years 100.0 97.1 (0.11) 0.7 (0.05) 0.6 (0.05) 1.6 (0.08)
75-84 years 100.0 93.9 (0.21) 1.4 (0.10) 1.2 (0.09) 3.5 (0.16)
85+ years 100.0 82.2 (0.62) 4.7 (0.33) 3.4 (0.28) 9.7 (0.49)

1 Activities of daily living (ADLs) include needing the help of other persons with bathing or showering, dressing, eating, getting in or out of bed or chairs, using the toilet, including getting to the toilet, and getting around inside the home.

2 Unknowns for the columns were not included in the denominators when calculating percentages.

NOTE: National Health Interview Survey, 2003-2007. Estimates are based on household interviews of a sample of the civilian noninstiturionalized population.

Table 3. Frequency distributions of number of limitation in activities of daily living (ADLs) by age: United States, 2003-2007
Limitation in activities of daily living (ADL)1
Age Total None 1 2+
Number in thousands2
18+ years 217,887 214,439 802 2,611
18-44 years 110,531 110,045 93 387
18-24 years 28,304 28,182 27 94
25-34 years 39,194 39,050 29 113
35-44 years 43,033 42,813 37 180
45-54 years 42,091 41,657 98 335
55-64 years 30,133 29,641 121 367
65+ years 35,132 33,097 490 1,522
65-74 years 18,613 18,060 130 418
75-84 years 12,625 11,846 179 593
85+ years 3,894 3,191 181 512

1 Activities of daily living (ADLs) include needing the help of other persons with bathing or showering, dressing, eating, getting in or out of bed or chairs, using the toilet, including getting to the toilet, and getting around inside the home.

2 Unknowns for the columns are not included in the frequencies, but they are included in the "Total" column.

NOTE: National Health Interview Survey, 2003-2007. Estimates are based on household interviews of a sample of the civilian noninstiturionalized population.

Table 4. Percent distributions of number of limitation in activities of daily living (ADLs) by age: United States, 2003-2007
Limitation in activities of daily living (ADL)1
Age Total None 1 2+
Percent distribution (standard error)2
18+ years 100.0 98.4 (0.03) 0.4 (0.01) 1.2 (0.02)
18-44 years 100.0 99.6 (0.02) 0.1 (0.01) 0.4 (0.02)
18-24 years 100.0 99.6 (0.04) 0.1 (0.02) 0.3 (0.03)
25-34 years 100.0 99.6 (0.03) 0.1 (0.01) 0.3 (0.02)
35-44 years 100.0 99.5 (0.03) 0.1 (0.01) 0.4 (0.03)
45-54 years 100.0 99.0 (0.05) 0.2 (0.03) 0.8 (0.04)
55-64 years 100.0 98.4 (0.07) 0.4 (0.03) 1.2 (0.06)
65+ years 100.0 94.3 (0.13) 1.4 (0.06) 4.3 (0.11)
65-74 years 100.0 97.1 (0.11) 0.7 (0.05) 2.2 (0.10)
75-84 years 100.0 93.9 (0.21) 1.4 (0.10) 4.7 (0.18)
85+ years 100.0 82.2 (0.62) 4.7 (0.33) 13.2 (0.55)

1 Activities of daily living (ADLs) include needing the help of other persons with bathing or showering, dressing, eating, getting in or out of bed or chairs, using the toilet, including getting to the toilet, and getting around inside the home.

2 Unknowns for the columns were not included in the denominators when calculating percentages.

NOTE: National Health Interview Survey, 2003-2007. Estimates are based on household interviews of a sample of the civilian noninstiturionalized population.

Table 5. Frequency distributions of limitation in instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) by age: United States, 2003-2007
Limitation in instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs)1
Age Total Yes No
Number in thousands2
18+ years 217,887 7,908 209,920
18-44 years 110,531 1,237 109,274
18-24 years 28,304 244 28,056
25-34 years 39,194 374 38,815
35-44 years 43,033 619 42,403
45-54 years 42,091 1,128 40,948
55-64 years 30,133 1,274 28,851
65+ years 35,132 4,270 30,847
65-74 years 18,613 1,159 17,449
75-84 years 12,625 1,737 10,880
85+ years 3,894 1,374 2,517

1 Instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) include everyday household chores, doing necessary business, shopping, or getting around for other purposes.

2 Unknowns for the columns are not included in the frequencies, but they are included in the "Total" column.

NOTE: National Health Interview Survey, 2003-2007. Estimates are based on household interviews of a sample of the civilian noninstiturionalized population.

Table 6. Percent distributions of limitation in instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) by age: United States, 2003-2007
Limitation in instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs)1
Age Total Yes No
Percent distribution (standard error)2
18+ years 100.0 3.6 (0.05) 96.4 (0.05)
18-44 years 100.0 1.1 (0.03) 98.9 (0.03)
18-24 years 100.0 0.9 (0.05) 99.1 (0.05)
25-34 years 100.0 1.0 (0.05) 99.0 (0.05)
35-44 years 100.0 1.4 (0.06) 98.6 (0.06)
45-54 years 100.0 2.7 (0.08) 97.3 (0.08)
55-64 years 100.0 4.2 (0.12) 95.8 (0.12)
65+ years 100.0 12.2 (0.21) 87.8 (0.21)
65-74 years 100.0 6.2 (0.18) 93.8 (0.18)
75-84 years 100.0 13.8 (0.31) 86.2 (0.31)
85+ years 100.0 35.3 (0.81) 64.7 (0.81)

1 Instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) include everyday household chores, doing necessary business, shopping, or getting around for other purposes.

2 Unknowns for the columns were not included in the denominators when calculating percentages.

NOTE: National Health Interview Survey, 2003-2007. Estimates are based on household interviews of a sample of the civilian noninstiturionalized population.

These estimates may be revised in the future as further analyses are completed.

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