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Healthy Aging - Disability
Indicator 4: Disability
In this report, disability is defined as an affirmative response to either of the following two BRFSS questions: "Are you limited in any way in any activities because of physical, mental, or emotional problems?" or "Do you now have any health problem that requires you to use special equipment, such as a cane, a wheelchair, a special bed, or a special telephone?"
According to 2001–2003 BRFSS data, older adults with disabilities are less likely to be physically active and more likely to be obese. However, they are more likely than those without disabilities to have received an influenza or pneumococcal vaccine.
A confidence interval (CI) describes the level of
uncertainty of an estimate and specifies the range in which the true value is
likely to fall. The State of Aging and Health in America online report
uses a 95% level of significance, which means that 95% of the time, the true
value falls within these boundaries.
†
Rankings are based on the relative numeric scores for
each indicator, with a ranking of "1" indicating the highest rank.
‡
Grades are calculated as tertiles (thirds) and show state performance relative
to all other states.
§
2003 data are used for Hawaii because no 2004 data exist.
Note:When comparing
prevalence of variables across states or years, we recommend the use of
confidence intervals. If the confidence intervals overlap, the difference is
not statistically significant.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1600 Clifton Rd. Atlanta, GA
30333, USA
800-CDC-INFO (800-232-4636) TTY: (888) 232-6348, 24 Hours/Every Day - cdcinfo@cdc.gov