The devil's in the details: Variation in estimates of late-life activity limitations across national cohort studies.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Assessing activity limitations is central to aging research. However, assessments of activity limitations vary, and this may have implications for the populations identified. We aim to compare measures of activities of daily living (ADLs) and their resulting prevalence and mortality across three nationally-representative cohort studies: the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS), the Health and Retirement Survey (HRS), and the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS).

Methods

We compared the phrasing and context of questions around help and difficulty with six self-care activities: eating, bathing, toileting, dressing, walking inside, and transferring. We then compared the prevalence and 1-year mortality for difficulty and help with eating and dressing.<

SUBMITTER: Ankuda CK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10023348 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature