From Vital and Health Statistics of the National Center for Health Statistics Number 92. September 14, 1983 

Americans Needing Help To Function at Home 

by Barbara A. Feller, M. A., Division of Health Interview Statistics 

Introduction and the number of adults who need or receive help in each type 

of activity are discussed. 

Recently, the perspective in long-term care has broadened In addition, estimates of the number of people who usually 

to include personal care needs of American adults who are able stay in bed all or most of the time, the number who experience 

to live in the community despite chronic disabili~. Long-term problems controlling bowel movements or urination, the num­ care can now take place in different settings that provide vaned ber who need or receive the help of another person, and the 

services. Home health care, adult day care, and other ways of number of people who need and/or receive selected nursing or providing care for people with chronic disabilities are develop medical treatment at home and the types of care received are .	 g in some communities. The focus of this report is on the also discussed For each item, estimates of the number of adults 

pes of home care services adults with chronic health problems and rate per 1,000 persons are presented in tables 1– 11. 

@ eed to continue to live in the community. 

This report presents selected data from the Home Care 

Supplement to the 1979 National Health Interview Survey. Data highlights This survey is a cross-sectional nationwide survey by household 

interview of the civilian noninstitutionalized population of the 

United States. The population estimates for this report are According to data on the civilian noninstitutionalized 

based on the 1970 decennial census population projected to population from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), 

1980, and therefore are slightly lower than if the population in 1979 

had been based on the 1980 Decennial Census. The Bureau of � An estimated 3.4 million adults needed or received help 

the Census documentsl the percent error of closure between from another person or by using special equipment in at 

the 1980 Census and preliminary estimates of the population least one of the following basic physical activities walking 

of the United States for April 1, 1980, by age, race, and sex. going outside, bathing, dressing, using the toilet, getting in 

Estimates of how many people in the community need or out of a bed or chair, or eating, 

help and what types of help they need are presented by age and � An estimated 4. I million adults needed or received the 

sex for selected activities. The question of how many people help of another person in at least one of the following 

need help because of a chronic health problem is crucial for selected home management activities shopping, household 

estimating the size of the target population for home care, and chores, preparing meals, or handling money. 

the question of what types of help they need is essential for � Overall, about 4.9 million adults living in the community 

appropriate delivery of health care services. Examples of spe- needed the help of another person in carrying out everyday 

cific items presented_ include selected basic physical activities activities. 

and home management activities. The number of adults who � A substantial number (about 2 million) were under 65 

need and/or receive help in at least one of the selected activities years of age, with the majority (2.8 million) 65 years of 

age and over. 

� The need for the help of another person increases sharply 

.S. Bureau of the Censux Preliminary estimates of the population of the with age, especially among the elderly. Fewer than 1 in 10 

ited States, by age, sex, and rac~ 1970 to 1981. Current Population Rewho are 65–74 years of age needed help, compared with 4 

@ rfs. Series P-25, No. 917. Washington. U.S. Government Printing Oflice. 

in 10 who are 85 years of age or over (table 1). 1982, 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Public Health Service 
2 adwncedata 

Table 1. Rate per 1,000 adults who naed assistance, by type 

of need and age United States, 1979 

Type of need 65-74 75-84 85 years 

years years and over 

Rate per 1,000 persons 

Needs helpinl ormore basic 

physical activities ., . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52.6 114.0 348.4 

Needs helpinl or more home 

management activities . . . . . . . . . . . 57.3 141.8 399.0 

Usually stays in bed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.3 25.6 51.2 

Hasdevice to control bowel 

movements or urination . . . . . . . . . . 5.3 10.8 28.5 

Needs help of another person in 

oneormore of the above.. . . . . . . . 69.9 160.3 436.5 

Basic physical activities 

In this report, basic physical activities include walking, 

going outside, bathing, dressing, using thetoile; getting inor 

out of a bed or a chair, or eating. The category “needing or 

receiving help” includes anyone who was reported, during the 

household interview, to use special equipment andlor to need 

Table 2. Number of adults who need halp in basic physical activities 

United States, 1979 

or receive the help of another person because of a chronic health 

problem, and anyone who needed help even though it was 

known whether a person or equipment was needed. Also 

eluded was anyone for whom it was reported that he or B 

“doesn’t do” rmy one of the seven activities because of a chronic 

health problem. 

In 1979, 3.4 million adults living in the community needed 

or received help in at least one of these activities, representing 

a rate of 22.5 per 1,000 adults for all ages combined (tables 2 

and 3). This estimate is an unduplicated person count because 

it shows how many adults needed or received help in at least 

one of the seven activities. 

The rate of needing help in at least one basic physical 

activity was substantially higher among persons in the older 

age categories. About 5.1 per 1,000 people 18–44 years of age 

needed help, compared with the rate of 20.6 per 1,000 people, +,.,, 

45–64 years of age, 52.6 per 1,000 people 65–74 years of age, 

and 157.0 per 1,000 people 75 years of age and over (table 3). 

The rate for people 85 years of age and over (348.4 per 1,000) 

was markedly higher than that for people 75–84 years of age 

(114.0 per 1,000). 

Although the number of women 75 years of age and over 

needing help was twice that of men the same age, the differbecause of a chronic health problem by WPe of activity, sex, and a9e: 

[Data are based on household intewiews of tha civilian noninstitutionalized population] 

Sex and age 

Both sexes 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

18-44 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45-64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45-54 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

55-64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

65-74 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

75 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

75–84 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

B5 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Male 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

18–44 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45–64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45-54 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

55-64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

65–74 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

75 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

75-84 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

85 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Female 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

18-44 yeara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

&_64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45-54 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

55-64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

65-74 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

75 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

75–84 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

85 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Needs help Getting 

All in 1 or Going Using in or out 

adults more basic Walking outside 8athing Dressing the of bed Ea 

toilet activities or chair 

Number in thousands 

153,178 3,444 2,470 2,095 1,390 1,090 835 749 303 

86,378 443 313 221 151 155 117 114 51 

43,457 895 597 444 319 314 189 210 79 

22,744 302 203 151 90 131 64 85 *22 

20,713 593 394 293 230 183 125 125 57 

14,929 785 585 510 305 215 173 135 58 

8,414 1,321 975 920 615 406 356 290 116 

6,869 783 574 505 348 226 195 177 58 

1,544 538 401 415 267 180 162 112 58 

72,224 1,409 1,044 730 573 455 327 283 143 

41,834 238 180 97 81 74 61 48 *24 

20,773 424 319 193 145 146 91 98 48 

10,991 150 118 75 42 61 *32 37 *9 

9,782 274 201 119 103 85 59 60 39 

6,494 321 245 182 148 93 7B 52 *34 

3,122 425 300 257 19B 141 96 86 37 

2,586 263 190 136 118 81 57 52 *19 

537 162 110 121 80 60 39 “34 “18 

80,954 2,035 1,426 1,365 818 635 465 160 

44,544 205 134 124 70 80 56 66 *26 

* 22,684 471 277 250 174 168 98 113 

11,752 152 85 76 47 70 *32 48 

10,931 320 192 174 127 98 66 65 * 8,435 464 339 327 157 122 95 83 !0 

5,291 895 676 663 417 265 260 204 79 

4,283 520 384 369 230 146 137 125 39 

1,008 375 292 295 187 119 123 79 40 
.

dmmedda3 

Rate per 1,000 adults who need help in basic physical activities because of a chronic health problem by type of activity, sex, and age 

ited States, 1979 

a are based on household interviews of the civilian noninstitutionalized population] 

Needs help Getting 

in 1 or Going Using in or out Sex and age more basic Walking outside Bathing Dressing the of bed Eating

toilet 

Both sexes 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

18-44 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45-64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45-54 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

55-64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

65-74 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

75 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

75-84 yeara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

85yeara and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Male 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

18-44 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45-64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45-54 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

55–64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

65–74 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

75 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

75-84 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

85 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Female 

tab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . e-44 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5-64 veara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45-54 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

55–64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

65–74 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

75 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

75-84 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

85 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

activities or chair 

Rate per 1,000 persons 

22.5 16.1 13.7 9.1 7.1 5.5 4.9 2.0 

5.1 3.6 2.6 1.7 1.8 1.4 1.3 0.6 

20.6 13.7 10.2 7.3 7.2 4.3 4.8 1.8 

13.3 8.9 6.6 4.0 5.8 2.8 3.7 *1.0 

28.6 19.0 14.1 11.1 8.8 6.0 6.0 2.8 

52.6 39.2 34.2 20.4 14.4 11.6 9.0 3.9 

157.0 115.9 109.3 73.1 48.3 42.3 34.5 13.8 

114.0 83.6 73.5 50.7 32.9 28.4 25.8 8.4 

3.48.4 259.7 268.8 172.9 116.6 104.9 72.5 37.6 

19.5 14.5 10.1 7.9 6.3 4.5 3.9 2.0 

5.7 4.3 2.3 1.9 1.8 1.5 1.1 “0.6 

20.4 15.4 9.3 7.0 7.0 4.4 4.7 2.3 

13.6 10.7 6.8 3.8 5.5 *2.9 3.4 “0.8 

28.0 20.5 12.2 10.5 8.7 6.0 6.1 4.0 

49.4 37.7 28.0 22.8 14.3 12.0 8.0 *5.2 

136.1 96.1 82.3 63.4 45.2 30.7 27.5 11.9 

101.7 73.5 52.6 45.6 31.3 22.0 20.1 *7.3 

301.7 204.8 225.3 149.0 111.7 72.6 *63.3 *33.5 

25.1 17.6 16.9 10.1 7.8 6.3 5.7 2.0 

4.6 3.0 2.8 1.6 1.8 1.3 1.5 “0.6 

20.8 12.2 11.0 7.7 7.4 4.3 5.0 *1.4 

12.9 7.2 6.5 4.0 6.0 *2.7 4.1 *1.1 

29.3 17.6 15.9 11.6 9.0 6.0 5.9 *1.6 

55.0 40.2 38.8 18.6 14.5 11.3 9.8 *2.8 

169.2 127.8 125.3 78.8 50.1 49.1 38.6 14.9 

121.4 89.7 86.2 53.7 34.1 32.0 29.2 9.1 

372.0 289.7 292.7 185.5 118.1 122.0 78.4 39.7 

ence in the rate per 1,000 was not statistically significant 

(169.2 and 136.1, respectively) (table 3). 

Health planners and service providers also need estimates 

of how many people need help in each particular type of activity. Such counts are duplicative in that a person may need help 

in more than one act~vity,Each of the seven activities is shown 

in tables 2 and 3 in descending order of the size of the estimate. 

An estimated 2.5’million people needed help with walking 2.1 

million with going outsidq 1.4 million with bathing 1.1 million 

with dressing 835,000 with tising the toilet 749,000 with getting 

in or out of a bed or a chain and 303,000 with eating (table 2). 

For each type of activity, the rates increased with increased 

age. For example, the rate per 1,000 people needing help to 

walk was 3.6 per 1,000 people 18–44 years of age compared 

with 13.7 for those 45–64 years of age, 39.2 for those 65–74 

years of age, 83.6 for those 75–84 years of age, and 259.7 for 

those 85 years of age and over (table 3). The rates for people 

eding help to bathe ranged from 1.7 per 1,000 people 18–44 

a ars of age to 172.9 per 1,000 for those 85 years of age and 

‘over. A huge difference occurred in the rate for peopfe 75 years 

of age and over who needed help to eau 8.4 for people 75–84 

years of age compared with 37.6 for those 85 years of.age and 

over (table 3). 

Although the number of women 75 years of age and over 

who needed help in each type of activity was larger than that of 

men, the differences between the rates per 1,000 people were 

generally not statistically significant by sex. In general, few 

statistically significant sex differences occurred in the rate per 

1,000 adults who needed help in each type of activity. . 

. .

;....= 

Home management activities 

Selected home management activities include shopping for 

personal items, doing routine household chores, preparing 

meals, or handling their own money. In tables 4 and 5, an 

unduplicated person count of all adults is show~ the summary 

by type of activity shows a duplicative count since a person is 

included in as many types of activities in which help is needed. 

The sum of the four types in the summary section is greater 

than the 4.1 million unduplicated count of adults who need 

help in one or more of the selected activities. 

In 1979,4.1 million noninstitutionalized adults needed or 

received help horn another person in at least one of these selected 

home management activities (tables 4 and 5). The rate per 

1,000 adults needing this help rose with age, 6.1 for people 18– 
4 ackincedata 

Table 4. Number of adults who need or receive help in home management activities because of a chronic health problem, by selacted combination 

of activities and age United States, 1979 

[Data are based cm household interviews of the civilian noninstitutionalized population] 

Age 

All Selected combination of activities adults 18-44 45–64 45-54 55-64 65-74 75 years 75-84 85 years 

years years years years years and over years and over 

Number in thousands 

Total adult population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153,178 86,378 43,457 22,744 20,713 14,929 8,414 6,869 1,544 

Alladults needing helpl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,052 525 1,080 419 661 856 1,591 974 616 

Shopping only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615 42 122 38 84 166 286 176 110 

Chores only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 577 72 247 100 147 134 124 83 41 

Handling money only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 51 *23 *17 *6 ‘6 *I6 *I6 

Meals only, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 *13 *24 *6 *I8 *I9 *I7 “7 *9 

Shopping and chores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 525 41 141 57 84 114 229 162 67 

Other combinations of 2 activities. . . . . . . . . . 297 67 78 37 40 47 106 72 “33 

Meals, shopping, and chores. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 628 55 199 63 136 155 219 126 94 

Other combinations of 3 activities. . . . . . . . . . 227 38 35 *15 *2O 48 106 58 48 

Meals and shopping and chores and 

handling money . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 908 117 182 71 111 154 455 247 208 

Unknown type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 *31 *29 *14 *I5 *I3 “33 *28 *6 

Nohelp reported needed ...,..... . . . . . . . . . . 149,126 85,853 42,377 22,325 20,052 14,073 6,823 5,895 928 

Summary by type of activityz 

Anymention of shopping ...,... . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,054 333 709 261 448 651 1,361 814 548 

Anymention of chores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,888 312 832 318 514 615 1,128 675 453 

Any mention of handling money . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,369 250 270 118 152 227 622 351 271 

Anymention of meals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,890 242 473 171 302 378 796 449 347 

lThis is an unduplicated person count. 

2Thia is a duplicative count in that a person ia included in as many types of activities in which help is needed, 

Table 5. Rate per 1,000 persons who need or receive help in home management activities because of a chronic health problem, by selected 

combinations of activities and age United States, 1979 

[Data are based on household interviews of the civilian noninstitutionalized population] 

Age 

All Selected combination of activities 

adults 78-44 45–64 45-54 55-64 65– 74 75 years 75-84 85 years 

years years years years years and over years and over 

Rate per 1,000 parsons 

Alladults needing helpl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.5 6.1 24.9 18.4 31.9 57.3 189.1 141,8 399.0 

Shopping only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.0 0.5 2.8 1.7 4.1 11.1 34.0 25.6 71.2 

Chores only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.8 O.e 5.7 4.4 7.1 9.0 14.7 12<1 26.6 

Handling money only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.6 0.6 *0.5 ‘0.7 “0.3 “0.4 *i.9 *2.3 

Meals only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0:5 “0.2 ‘0.6 “0.3 “0.9 “1.3 “2.0 ‘1.0 *5.8 

Shopping and chores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.4 0.5 3.2 2.5 4.1 7.6 27.2 23,6 43.4 

Other combinations of 2 activities. . . . . . . . . . . . 1.9 0.8 1.8 1.6 1.9 3.1 12.6 10.5 *21 .4 

Meals and shopping and chores . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1 0.6 4.6 2.8 6.6 10.4 26.0 18.3 60.9 

Other combinations of 3 activities. . . . . . . . . . . . 1.5 0.4 0.8 “0.7 81.0 3.2 12.6 8.4 31.1 

Meals and shopping and chores and 

handling money . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.9 1.4 4.2 3.1 5.4 10.3 54.1 36.0 134.7 

Unknown type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.7 ‘0.4 ‘0.7 80.6 “0.7 “0.9 *3.9 *4.1 *3.9 

Nohelp reported needed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 973.5 993.9 975.7 981.6 968.1 942.7 810.9 858.2 601.0 

Summary by type of activityz 

Anymention of shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.9 3.9 16.3 11.5 21.6 43.6 161.8 118.5 354.9 

Anymention of chores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18.9 3.6 19.1 14.0 24.8 41.2 134.1 98.3 293. 

Any mention of handling money . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.9 2.9 6.2 5.2 7.3 15.2 73.9 51.1 175. 

Anymention of meals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.3 2.8 10.9 7.5 14.6 25.3 94.6 65.4 224.7 0 

lTheae ratea are based on an unduplicated person count.


‘These rates are based on a duplicative count in that a person is included in aa many types of activities in which help ia needed.

achmmMa5 

6

4	years of age, 24.9 for those 45–64 years of age, 57.3 for 

se 65–74 years of age, and 189.1 for those 75 years of age 

over (table 5). The rates for people 75–84 years of age and 

for those 85 years of age and over also differ significantly 

(141.8 and 399.0 per 1,000, respectively). 

Unduplicated counts of people needing help in selected, 

frequently occurring, combinations of home management activities were also identified. With increased age, there was a 

substantial increase in the rates for people needing the help of 

another person in the following selected combinations of activities: shopping only chores only; meals, shopping, and chores 

and meals, shopping, chores, and handling money. 

In tables 4 and 5, the “summary by type of activity” category shows duplicative counts in each of the four activities. 

A person is included in as many activities as he or she needs 

help in. 

For each type of activity, the likelihood of needing help 

increases with age. A marked increase occurs between the two 

oldest age categories. 

Some patterns emerge for the elderly when the “summary 

by type of activity” is examined (tables 4 and 5). For example, 

people 65–74 years of age are more likely to need help with 

shopping or chores (43.6 and 41.2 per 1,000, respectively) 

than with meals (25.3 per 1,000) or money (15.2 per 1,000) 

(table 5). Furthermore, the likelihood of their needing help 

with meals (25.3 per 1,000) exceeds that of needing help with 

ndling money ( 15.2 per 1,000). 

People 75 years of age and over are somewhat more likely 

Q o need help shopping (161.8 per 1,000) than to need help with 

chores (134. 1 per 1,000). Also, the need for help with shopping 

or chores exceeds that for either meals or money (94.6 and 

73.9 per 1,000, respectively) (table 5). This pattern also generally holds for people 75–84 years of age and 85 years of age 

and over. 

Adults usually staying in bed 

An estimated 848,000 people living outside of an institution 

were reported as usually staying in bed all or most of the time 

because of a chronic health problem (table 6). The rate is generally higher among older age categories, ranging from 1.4 per 

1,000 people 18–44 years of ageto 51.2 for those 85 years of 

age and over (table 6). A sharp increase occurred between 65– 

74 years of age (11.3 per 1,000) and 75 years of age and over 

(30.4 per 1,000). In general, no statistically significant difference was found between males and females in the rates per 

1,000 adults who usually stay in bed all or most of the time. 

Adults with bowel or urinary trouble 

� An estimated 1.5 million noninstitutionalized adults had a 

device to control bowel movements or urination or had other 

trouble controlling bowel movement or urination (table 7). First, 

a question was asked to ascertain whether a person had a deTable 6. Number of adults and rate per l,QOO who usually stay 

in bed all or most of the time because of a chronic health problem, 

by sex and agrx United States, 1979 

[Data are baaed on household interviews of the civilian noninstitutionalized 

population] 

Sex and age 

Both sexes 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

18-44 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45-64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45-54 years . . . . . . . . . . . 

55-64 years . . . . . . . . . . . 

65-74 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

75 years And over . . . . . . . . 

75-84 years . . . . . . . . . . . 

85 years and over . . . . . . 

Male 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

18–44 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45-64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45-54 years . . . . . . . . . . . 

55-64 years . . . . . . . . . . . 

65–74 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

75 years And over . . . . . . . . 

75-84 years . . . . . . . . . . . 

85 years and over . . . . . . 

Famale 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

18-44 yeara . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45-64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45-54 years . . . . . . . . . . . 

55-64 years . . . . . . . . . . . 

65-,74 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

75 years and over . . . . . . . . 

75-84 years . . . . . . . . . . . 

85 years and over . . . . . . 

Adults who Adults who Total 

adults usually stay usually stay 

in bed in bed 

Rate per 

1,000 

Number in thousands Persons 

153,178 

86,378 

43,457 

22,744 

20,713 

14,929 

8,414 

6,869 

1.544 

72,224 

41,834 

20,773 

10,991 

9,782 

6,494 

3,122 

2,586 

537 

B0,954 

44,544 

22,684 

11,752 

10,931 

8,435 

5,291 

4,283 

1,008 

848 5.5 

118 1.4 

306 7.0 

141. 6.2 

165 8.0 

169 11.3 

256 30.4 

176 25.6 

79 51.2 

399 5.5 

66 1.6 

165 7.9 

76 6.9 

88 9.0 

77 11.9 

91 29.1 

58 22.4 

*33 *61.5 

450 5.6 

52 1.2 

142 6.3 

65 5.5 

77 7.0 

92 10.9 

165 31.2 

118 27.6 

46 ‘45.6 

vice. People who dld not have a device were asked whether 

they had any other trouble controlling bowel movements or 

urination. About 10.1 per 1,000 adults had such problems: 7.9 

per 1,000 had other trouble, and 2.2 per 1,000 had a device to 

control bowel movement or urination (table 8). 

The rates per 1,000 people who had a device to control 

bowel movement or urination or other trouble controlling 

bowel movement or urination increased with age. For exaniple. 

1.9 per 1,000 people 45–64 years of age. 5.3 per 1.000 people 

65-74 years of age. and 13.9 per 1,000 people 75 years of age 

and over had a device to control bowel movements or urination 

(table 8). In addition. the rates for those who had other trouble 

controlling bowel movement or urination were 7.5 per 1.000 

people 45–64 years of age. 17.3 per 1.000 people 65-74 years 

of age. and 46.7 per 1,000 people 75 years of age and over. 

Generally. for most age categories under 75 years of age. 

females reported higher rates of other trouble controlling bowel 

movements or urination than males did. 
.

� 

6 achancedata 

Table 7. Number of adults who have device to control bowel movement or urination, and number who have other trouble controlling bowel 

movement or urination, by sex and age United States, 1979 

[Data are baaed on household interviews of the civilian noninstitutionalized population] 

Sex and age 

Both sexes 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

18-44 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45-64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45-54 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

55-64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

65–74 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

75 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

75–84 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

85 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Male 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

18-44 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45-64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45-54 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

55–64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

65-74 years..............,.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

75 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

75-84 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

85 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Female 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

18-44 years,.....,........,.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45–64 years, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45-54 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

55–64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

65–74 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

75 years and over. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

75–84 years.............,.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

85 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Adults needing the help of 

another person 

Has device Has device Has other trouble All or other trouble to control controlling adults controlling bowel bowel or bladder bowel or bladder or bladder 

Number in thousands 

153,178 1,543 335 1,208 

86,378 284 55 229 

43,457 412 84 328 

22,744 149 *2.3 116 

20,713 263 50 212 

14,929 338 79 258 

8,414 510 117 393 

6,869 337 74 264 

1,544 172 44 129 

72,224 534 176 357 

41,834 89 “24 65 

20,773 158 62 97 

10,991 73 *3O 44 

9,782 85 *32 53 

6,494 95 38 57 

3,122 191 52 139 

2,586 127 35 92 

537 63 *I7 47 

44,544 

22,684 

194 

253 

*31 

*22 

164 

231 � 

11,752 76 *4 72 

10,931 178 *I8 159 

8,435 243 41 202 

5,291 319 65 254 

4,283 210 38 172 

1,008 109 *27 82 

80>954 1,009 159 850 

The following items were used in the Home Care Supplement to define people who needed the help of another personz 

in selected essential activities due to a chronic health problem: 

.	 Need or receive the help of another person3 in one or more 

of the following seven activities: walking, going outside, 

bathing, dressing, using the toilet, getting in or out of a bed 

or a chair, or eating, 

�	 “Doesn’t do” one or more of the seven activities listed 

above (these people were assumed to need the help of another person); 

�	 Need or receive the help of another person in one or more 

of the following four activities: shopping for personal items, 

2These criteria 51s0 define the Individual Home Care pOpUladOII for whom 

additional information was obtained on who provided the help and how often


the help was provided,


Speoplerepofledto have functional disability who use sped eWiPment OnlY


or people for whom it is unknown whether they use special equipment or need


the help of another person are not included. They are included in tables 2 and 3.


doing routine household chores, preparing their own meals, 

or handling their own money, 

. Usually stays in bed all or most of the time (these people 

were assumed to need the help of another person); 

. Need or receive the help of another person with a device to 

control bowel movement or urination. 

An estimated 4.9 million adults 18 years of age and over 

living in the community needed the help of another person in 

these selected activities in 1979 (table 9). The rate per 1,000 

people was substantially higher among older adults than among 

young ones. The rates of adults who needed the help of another 

person were 7.8 per 1,000 people 18–44 years of age, 31.2 for 

those 45–64 years of age, 69.9 for those 65–74 years of age, 

and 211.0 for those 75 years of age and over (table 9). The 

rates for people 75–84 years of age and those 85 years of age 

and over also differ significantly ( 160.3 per 1,000 and 436:5 

per 1,000, respectively). 

In general the rates for women 45 years of age and ove 

were significantly higher than those for men. For example, — 

237.2 per 1,000 women 75 years of age and over needed help, 

compared with 166.6 per 1,000 men 75 years of age and over 

(table 9). 
achmedata 7 

Table 8. Rate per 1,000 persons who have device to control 

bowel movement or urination and number who have other trouble 

controlling bowel movement or urination, by sex and age United 

0 States, 1979 

[Data are based on household interviews of the civilian noninstitutionalized 

Table 9. Number of adults and rate per 1,000 who need the help 

of another person in one or more selected activities, by sex and 

age: United States, 1979 

[Data are baaed on household interviews of the civilian noninatitutionalized 

population] 

Sex and age 

Both sexes 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

18-44 years..........,.. 

45-64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45-54 years . . . . . . . . . . . 

55-64 years . . . . . . . . . . . 

65-i’4 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

75 years And over . . . . . . . . . 

75-84 years . . . . . . . . . . . 

85 years and over. . . . ~ . . 

Male 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

18-44 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45-64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45-54 years . . . . . . . . . . . 

55-64 years . . . . . . . . . . . 

65-74 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

o75 years And over . . . . . . . . . 

75-84 years . . . . . . . . . . . 

85 years and over. . . . . . . 

Female 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

18-44 yeara . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45-64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45-54 years . . . . . . . . . . . 

55-64 years . . . . . . . . . . . 

65-74 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

75 years and over . . . . . . . . . 

75-84 years . . . . . . . . . . . 

85 years and over. . . . . . . 

Has device Has Has other or other device trouble trouble to control controlling controlling bowel bowel bowel or bladder or bladder or bladder 

Rate per 1,000 persons 

10.1 2.2 7.9 

3.3 0.6 2.7 

9.5 1.9 7.5 

6.6 *1.5 5.1 

12.7 2.4 10.2 

22.6 5.3 17.3 

60.6 13.9 46.7 

49.1 10.8 38.4 

111.4 28.5 83.5 

7.4 2.4 4.9 

2.1 ‘0.6 1.6 

7.6 3.0 4.7 

6.6 *2.7 4.0 

8.7 ‘3.3 5.4 

14.6 5.9 8.8 

61.2 16.7 44.5 

49.1 13.5 35.6 

117.3 *31 .7 87.5 

12.5 2.0 10.5 

4.4 ‘0.7 3.7 

11.2 *1.O 10.2 

6.5 “0.3 6.1 

16.3 *1.6 14.5 

28.8 4.9 23.9 

60.3 12.3 48.0 

49.0 8.9 40.2 

108.1 *26.8 81.3 

population] 

Sex and age 

Both sexes 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

18–44 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45–64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45-54 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

55–64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

6&74 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

75 years And over . . . . . . . . . . . 

75-84 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

85 years and over. . . . . . . . . 

Male 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

18-44 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45-64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45–54 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

55-64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

65–74 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

75 years And over . . . . . . . . . . . 

75-84 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

85 years and over. . . . . . . . . 

Female 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

18-44 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45-64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45-54 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

55-64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

65-74 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

75 years And over. . . . . . . . . . . 

75-84 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

85 years and over. . . . . . . . . 

All 

adults Needs help of another 

Number Rate per 

in thousands 1,000 persons 

153,178 4,851 31.7 

86,378 676 7.8 

434457 1,357 31.2 

22,744 526 23.1 

20,713 832 40.2 

14,929 1,043 69.9 

8,414 1,775 211.0 

6,869 1,101 160.3 

1,544 674 436.5 

72,224 1,741 24.1 

41,834 303 7.2 

20,773 559 26.9 

10,991 223 20.3 

9,782 336 34.3 

6,494 359 55.3 

3,122 520 166.6 

2,586 330 127.6 

537 190 353.8 

80,954 3,110 38.4 

44.544 373 8.4 

22,684 798 35.2 

11,752 303 25.8 

10,931 495 45.3 

8,435 684 81.1 

5,291 1,255 237.2 

4,283 771 180.0 

1,008 483 479.2 

Adults receiving nursing 

or medical care 

Each person was also asked about the following four types 

of nursing or medical treatment received at home: injections, 

physical therapy, changing bandages, and “other.” Approximately 1.3 million people received at least one of these specified types of medical or nursing treatments at home (table 10). 

The rate per 1,000 people ranged from 3.3 for people 18-44 

years of age to 88.7 for those 85 years of age and over (table 11 ). 

The difference in rates was not significant by sex, although for 

each sex the rates rose with age for most of the categories. 

Injection was the type of treatment received by most of the 

1A person is considered as needing the help of another person if at least one 

of the following items was reported as applicable because of a chronic health 

problem (A) Needs or receives the help of another person in performing one 

or more of the following 7 activities—walking, going outside, bathing, dressing, 

eating, using the toilet, or getting in or out of bad or chaiE (people who need 

special equipment only and people for whom it was unknown whether they needed 

special equipment or the help of another person were not included;) (B) “Doesn’t 

do” one or more of the 7 activities listed above; (C) Needs or receives the help 

of another person in ona or more of these 4 activities—preparing own 

meals, shopping for personal items, doing routine chores, or handling own money; 

(D) Usually stays in bed all or most of the time: (E) Needs the help of another 

person in taking care of a device to control bowel movement or urination. 

people. The rate for people receiving injections ranged from 

2.1 per 1,000 people 18–44 years of age to 33.7 per 1,000 

people 85 years of age and over (table 11). Marked increases 

occurred between 65–74 years of age, 75–84 years of age, and 

85 years of age and over. In general, rates for males receiving 

injections at home were not significantly different from those 

for females. 

o

8 admncedata 

Table 10. Number of adults who receive selected services, by type of services, sex, and age: United States, 1979 

[Data are based on household interviews of the civilian noninstitutionalized population] 

Sex and age 

Both sexes 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

18-44 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45-64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45-54 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

55-64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

65-74 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

75 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

75-84 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

85 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Male 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

18-44 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45–64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45-54 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

55–64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

65-74 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

75 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

75-84 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

85 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Female 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

18-44 yeara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45-64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45-54 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

55-64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

65-74 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

75 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

75-84 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

85 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Type of nursing or medical care received 

All 

adults 1 or more Injections Physical Changing Other treatments therapy bandages 

Number in thousands 

153,178 1,309 

86,378 283 

43,457 407 

22,744 198 

20,713 210 

14,929 221 

8,414 398 

6,869 261 

1,544 137 

72,224 544 

41.834 121 

20.773 201 

10,991 91 

9,782 110 

6,494 90 

3,122 132 

2,586 80 

537 52 

80,954 765 

44,544 162 

22,684 207 

11,752 107 

10,931 100 

8,435 131 

5,291 266 

4,283 181 

1,008 85 

791 200 

184 52 

286 51 

155 *13 

131 37 

130 *33 

192 64 

140 42 

52 *22 

337 74 

76 *28 

137 *I6 

70 *2 

68 *13 

61 *8 

63 *22 

38 *I5 

“25 *7 

454 127 

107 *24 

148 35 

85 *1 1 

63 *24 

70 *25 

129 42 

101 *27 

*27 *15 

128 347 

*26 38 

38 59 

*23 *18 

*I5 41 

*14 79 

50 171 

35 100 

*I5 72 

57 121 

*1 1 *13 

*26 *29 

*15 *8 

*1 I *21 

*II *27 

*8 52 

‘3 *33 

‘6 *I9 

71 

*I4 

*1 I 

*8 

*3 *2O 

*3 52 

42 119 

*32 66 

“1,0 53 
8.5 

3.3 

9.4 

8.7 

47.3 

38.0 

88.7 

7.5 

2.9 

9.7 

8.3 

11.2 

13.9 

42.3 

30.9 

96.8 

9.4 

3.6 

9.1 

9.1 

9.1 

15.5 

50.3 

42.3 

84.3 

a&mcdaa9 

Rate per 1,000 persons who receive selected services, by type of services, ses, and age United States, 1979 

Data are based on household intewiews of the civilian noninstitutionalized population] 

Type of nursing or medical care received 

Sex and age 1or more 

treatments 

Physical Changing Injections Other therapy bandages 

Both sexes 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

18-44 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45-64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 

.45-54 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

55-64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

65-74 yeara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

75 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

75-84 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

85 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Male 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

18-44 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45-64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45-54 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

55-64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

65-74 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

75 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

75-84 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

85 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

8-44 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

S-6& years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

45–54 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

55-64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

65-74 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

75 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

75-84 yeara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

85yeara and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

10.1 

14.8 

Rate per 1,000 persons 

5.2 1.3 

2.1 0.6 

6.6 1.2 

6.8 “0.6 

6.3 1.8 

8.7 *2.2 

22.8 7.6 

20.4 6.1 

33.7 *14.2 

4.7 1.0 

1.8 “0.7 

6.6 “0.8 

6.4 “0.2 

7.0 *1.3 

9.4 *1.2 

20.2 “7.0 

14.7 *5.8 

*46.6 *1 3.0 

5.6 1.6 

2.4 *0.5 

6.5 1.5 

7.2 ‘0.9 

5.8 *2.2 

8.3 ‘3.0 

24.4 7.9 

23.6 *6.3 

*26.8 *14.9 

0.8 2.3 

‘0.3 0.4 

0.9 1.4 

*1.0 “0.8 

“0.7 2.0 

‘0.9 5.3 

5.9 20.3 

5.1 14.6 

*9.7 46.6 

0.8 1.7 

“0.3 *0.3 

*1.3 ‘1.4 

*1.4 *0.7 

*1.1 *2.1 

*1.7 *4.2 

*2.6 16.7 

*1.2 *1 2.8 

*11.2 *35.4 

0.9 2.8 

“0.3 ‘0.6 

“0.5 *I3 

“0.7 “0.9 

“0.3 *1.8 

‘0.4 6.2 

7.9 22.5 

*7.5 15.4 

*9.9 52.6 

e 
.

10 achncedata 

Technical notes 

Source and limitations of data 

The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) is a crosssectional, nationwide survey conducted by household interview. 

A probability sample of households is interviewed each week 

by trained personnel of the U.S. Bureau of the Census to obtain 

information on the health and other characteristics of each 

member of the household in the civilian noninstitutionalized 

population. 

During the 52 weeks in 1979, the sample consisted of ap 

proximately 42,000 households including about 111,000 people 

living at the time of the interview. The total noninterview rate 

was about 3.9 percent—2.2 percent of which was due to respondent refusal and the remainder primarily due to an inability 

to locate an eligible respondent at home after repeated calls. A 

description of the survey design, methods used in estimation, 

and general qualifications of the NHIS data is provided in 

Current Estimates@om the National Health Interview Survey: 

United States, 1979.4 

The estimates shown in this report are based on a sample 

of the civilian noninstitutionalized population rather than on 

the entire population. Therefore, they are subject to sampling 

error. Some tables in this report contain cells in which the estimate is small for a given characteristic. When an estimate or 

the numerator or denominator of a rate is small, the sampling 

error may be relatively high. Approximate relative sampling 

errors for estimates in this report are shown in tables I and II. 

Detailed information on reliability of estimates is available in 

the appendix of another publication.4 

For comparative statements in this report, terms such as 

“similar” and “the same” mean that no statistically significant 

difference exists between the statistics being compared. Terms 

relating to differences, such as “greater,” and “less,” indicate 

that the differences are statistically significant. A critical value 

4National Center for Health Statistics, S. Jack and P. Rles Current Estimates 

from the National Health Interview Survey, United States, 1979. Vital and 

Health Statistics Series 1O-NO. 136. DHHS Pub. No. (PHS) 81-1564. Public 

Health Service. Washington. U.S. Government Printing Office. Apr. 1981. 

Table 1. Standard errors of estimates of aggregates 

Standard 

Size of estimate in thousands error in 

thousands 

35	 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 

100......................................... 18 

300 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 

500 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 

1,000....................................... 57 

5,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 

10,000...................................... 174 

20,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 

30,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278 

150,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393 

Table 

per 1,000 

II. Standard 

persons 

errors, expressed in oercentaae -. ooints of rates �

Estimated rates per 1,000 

Base of rates 

per 1,000 20 50 100 200 

in thousands 500 

9:0 9:0 9:0 8:0 

100.......... 25 39 54 72 90 

300. . . . . . . . . . 15 23 31 42 52 

500. . . . . . . . . . 11 18 24 32 40 

1,000 . . . . . . . . 8 12 17 23 29 

5,000 . . . . . . . . 4 6 8 10 13 

10,000 . . . . . . . 3 4 5 7 9 

20,000 . . . . . . . 2 3 4 5 6 

30,000 . . . . . . . 1 2 3 4 5 

150,000. . . . . . 1 1 1 2 2 

of 1.96 (0.05 level of significance) was used to test all comparisons that are discussed. Lack of comment regarding the 

differences between any two statistics does not mean that the 

difference was tested and found to be not significant. 

Definitions of terms 

The Home Care Supplement to the 1979 NHIS obtained 

information on the need for assistance in selected fhnction 

activities, condition causing the need for assistance, and bowe o and urinary trouble. In addition, for people needing the help of 

another person, information was obtained on who provided the 

help and how often the help was provided. A copy of the complete supplement is provided in Series 1O-NO. 136.4 

Although specific definitions were not given to the respondents for the Home Care Supplement, interviewers were 

provided with the following guidelines regarding some terminology. 

Doing household chores refers to routine chores such as 

washing dishes, doing laundry, 

or more diflicult jobs, such as 

making repairs to the house, are 

Shopping does not include 

to the store, but once there can 

Handling money includes 

managing accounts, and related 

dusting or sweeping. Heavier 

washing windows or walls or 

not included. 

persons who need help getting 

shop without assistance. 

paying bills, cashing checks, 

activities. 

Receiving or needing help requires physical assistance to 

perform one or more of seven selected activities. This includes 

such help as support from another person, someone to wash the 

back or turn on the shower, or being fed. It also includes people 

who are able to perform the activity without help but must be 

supervised, for example, someone must be present in case the 

person falls while bathing. 

5U s, Depaflment of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Acting as a collecting� 

agent for U.S. Public Health Service: Health Interview Survey Interviewer’s 

Manual. HIS-100 (1979). 
---

11


m 

.,. 

Using special equipment includes use of equipment or deices used specifically to aid in a particular activity such as a 

ne, a walker, or a special spoon or fork. Includes devices 

installed to aid in the activity, such as rails along the bathtub or 

toilet ramps, or elevators. 

Using the toilet in the bathroom includes adjusting clothes 

and	 cleaning oneself after using the toilet. 

Bathing includes getting or turning on the water for a bath, 

shower, or sponge batIy getting to, in, and out of a tub or a 

shower, and if used, washing and drying oneself. 

Dressing includes putting on braces, getting clothes from 

closets and drawers, putting them on, fastening buttons, zippers, 

snaps, or other closures. However, it does not include the occasional need to have someone help with a zipper or other 

closures that a normally healthy person would have difficulty 

doing. 

Eating includes getting the food from the plate into the 

mouth, but does not include cutting or otherwise preparing the 

food. 

Getting in and out of bed or chairs includes wheelchairs. 

Accidents or trouble controlling bowel or urination includes 

accidentally wetting or soiling one’s self, but does not include 

occasional slight “leaking.” Also, people are considered as 

having “accidents or trouble controlling” if they must always 

have enemas because they are unable to empty their bowels. 

Colostomy and urinary catheter are surgical openings 

andlor devices used to aid in urination or bowel movements 

when the person has lost natural control of these functions 

through illness, disability, surgery, or other causes. 

Receives or needs help from anotherperson in taking care 

of the device includes personal assistance or supervision in 

operating or cleaning the device, or in emptying the bags. 

Chronic conditions, disability, or health problem includes 

a condition that is described by the respondent as having first 

been noticed more than 3 months before the week of the interview, or one of the conditions always classified in the NHIS as 

chronic regardless of onset. A list of these conditions is provided 

in another publication.4 Only people with a chronic condition, 

disability, or health problem were included. Those with acute 

conditions were excluded from the data base. However, for 

anyone found to have an unknown type of condition causing 

the need for help, the NHIS concept of major limitation of 

activity due to a chronic condition or impairment was used to 

indirectly determine chronic limitation. Major activity limitation 

is defined in another report.6 

6NatiOn~center for Health Statistics, B. A. Feller Health characteristicsof 

personswithchronicactivitylimitation,UnitedStates, 1979. Viral and Health 

Statistics. Series 1O-NO.137.DHI-LSPub.No. 82-1565. publicHealthService. 

Dec. 1981. 

Symbols 

Data not available 

. . . Categov not applicable 

Quantity zero 

0.0	 Quantity more than zero but less than 

0.05 

z	 Quantity more than zero but less than 

500 where numbers are rounded to 

thousands 

* Figure does not meet standards of 

reliability or precision 

#	 Figure suppressed to comply with 

confidentiality requirements 
12 dmcdata


Recent Issues of Advance Data From Vital and Health Statistics 

No. 87. Drug Utilization in General and Family Practice by Char- No. 90. Utilization of Psychotropic Drugs in Office-Based Ambul 

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No. 88. 1981 Summary National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey No. 91. An Overview of the 1980 National Master Facility Inventory 

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No. 89. Drugs Most Frequently Used in Office Practice: National 

Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, 1981 (Issued April 15, 1983) 

Suggested Citation 

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