Functional ability and the need for care: issues for measurement research

Measuring the prevalence of functional disability among older people is extremely important. The number of older people is projected to increase in both the developed and the developing countries. The incidence and prevalence of functional disability are high among older people, and they are higher at older ages. Many countries plan to care for their impaired older populations. They need good information to plan for their care. The available data are soft. They are often fragmentary and based on research done 20 or 30 years ago when conditions were different. Data may not take into account the differences among people living in widely varying cultures. Nevertheless, the available data, including data from longitudinal studies, have started to yield useful information. Cross-national studies can only increase the value of the information that many people have devoted enormous resources to obtain. People should devote their time to cross-national comparisons, with the respect for the careful study of survey design, question wording, and tabulation that has been addressed in this paper. Researchers should also devote time to considering whether questions appropriate in one culture are equally appropriate in another. Investigating such issues is one of the purposes of this conference.