Table 1.
Negative Consequences Due to Inadequate Support with Daily Activities Among Community-Living Older Adults with Disability
| Disability by Activity and Domain |
Community-Living Older Adults with Disability | Negative Consequences | Percent Experiencing Negative Consequence |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (unweighted n) | (millions)* | (row %)* | ||
| Household Activities † | ||||
| Keeping track of medication | 581 | 2.7 | Made a mistake in taking prescribed medication‡(n=112) | 22.0 (17.4, 26.5) |
| Meal Preparation | 749 | 3.4 | Went without a hot meal (n=86) | 14.4 (11.3, 17.5) |
| Banking and paying bills | 605 | 2.4 | Bills were not paid (n=37) | 9.0 (5.8, 12.2) |
| Shopping | 934 | 4.3 | Went without groceries or personal items (n=54) | 6.2 (4.1, 8.2) |
| Laundry | 620 | 2.8 | Went without clean laundry (n=18) | 3.9 (1.7, 6.0) |
| Any Household Activity | 1438 | 7.0 | Negative Consequence, 1+ Activity (n=243) | 18.3 (15.9, 20.8) |
| Mobility Activities § | ||||
| Going outside the home | 769 | 3.4 | Had to stay inside (n=198) | 27.9 (24.2, 31.7) |
| Getting around inside home | 699 | 3.2 | Did not go places inside the home (n=169) | 24.3 (20.9, 27.8) |
| Getting out of bed | 767 | 3.8 | Had to stay in bed (n=55) | 6.6 (4.5, 8.8) |
| Any Mobility Activity | 1215 | 5.8 | Negative Consequence, 1+ Activity (n=321) | 25.6 (22.9, 28.3) |
| Self Care Activities § | ||||
| Toileting | 297 | 1.4 | Wet or soiled self (n=138) | 39.3 (32.8, 45.9) |
| Washing up | 604 | 2.6 | Went without showering, bathing, or washing up (n=62) | 13.1 (9.7, 16.4) |
| Dressing | 743 | 3.4 | Went without getting dressed (n=45) | 6.2 (4.1, 8.3) |
| Eating | 243 | 1.0 | Went without eating | ---∥ |
| Any Self-Care Activity | 981 | 4.5 | Negative Consequence, 1+ Activity (n=206) | 20.0 (17.4, 22.6) |
| Any Activity Domain | 1961 | 9.3 | Negative Consequence, Any Activity (n=569) | 28.6 (26.4, 30.8) |
Source: National Health and Aging Trends Study, 2015.
Data are weighted to reflect community-living Medicare beneficiaries ages 65 years enrolled in traditional Medicare who survived 12 months following interview. Estimates in the table focus on 1,961 participants with 1+ activity limitation.
Respondents were asked about negative consequences with household activities if they performed the activity with difficulty themselves or received help for health or functioning reasons.
Older adults who reported difficulty managing prescribed medications themselves, or who relied on someone else to manage medications for health and functioning reasons (n=581) were asked about mistakes. Those who always managed medications with someone else (n=55) were not asked about mistakes and excluded.
Respondents asked about negative consequences with mobility and self-care if they performed the activity with difficulty themselves, received help, or did not perform the activity.
Numbers not reportable due to small sample (n<11) but included in aggregated estimates.