Table 7. Type of Care Received by Elderly Long-term Care (LTC) Users, 1994

The Characteristics of Long-term Care Users

1
CharacteristicsNumber of PersonsCommunity Elderly PersonsInstitutionalized Elderly Persons
Informal Care OnlyBoth Informal & Formal CareFormal Care Only
Population (thousands)5,5372,2231,4212561,637
Mean age (years)80.578.080.680.683.7
  Percent Distribution
Gender
Female
Male		3,914
1,624		37.0
47.7		26.7
23.2		5.4
2.8		31.0
26.2
Race
White
Black
Other		4,818
647
72		38.8
48.5
58.6		25.2
29.5
22.6		4.6
5.0
5.5		31.5
17.0
13.3
Marital Status
Married
Widowed
Never married
Separated/divorced		1,889
2,970
326
353		57.1
32.7
21.8
29.1		27.3
24.8
18.3
31.0		2.1
5.5
6.0
9.7		13.6
37.0
53.8
30.2
Education
Less than 12 years
12 years
Greater than 12 years
Missing		2,759
1,258
856
665		48.3
39.4
33.3
16.3		26.2
26.0
35.1
10.7		3.9
5.3
8.1
2.0		21.6
29.3
23.5
71.0
Level of IADL/ADL Disability
IADLs only
1-2 ADLs
3-6 ADLs		1,650
1,512
2,376		60.6
47.0
21.6		24.9
26.8
25.5		6.5
6.7
2.0		8.0
19.5
50.9
Cognitively Impaired2
Yes
No		2,220
3,318		25.7
49.8		20.3
29.2		2.2
6.3		51.9
14.7
Functional Limitations3,4
Upper body only
Lower body only
Upper and lower body
Neither		a
1,251
2,370
194		a
61.4
52.8
75.0		a
31.6
40.7
21.0		a
7.0
6.5
4.0		n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
Difficulty Seeing3
Yes
No		1,150
2,685		50.7
59.3		44.5
33.4		4.8
7.2		n/a
n/a
Difficulty Hearing and Understanding3
Yes
No		479
3,358		60.3
56.3		37.8
36.5		1.9
7.2		n/a
n/a
Difficulty Communicating3
Yes
No		205
3,634		48.2
57.3		50.3
35.9		1.4
6.8		n/a
n/a

Source: 1994 National Long-term Care Survey. 

Note: Some numbers may not add to total because of missing values. Except where shown, missing values do not exceed 2% of the relevant sample. ADL = Activities of daily living; IADL = Instrumental activities of daily living. 

1 Receipt of long-term care is defined as receiving human assistance or standby help with at least one of six ADLs and eight IADLs. The ADLs included are eating, transfer, toileting, getting around inside, dressing, and bathing. The IADLs are meal preparation, grocery shopping, light housework, laundry, financial management, taking medication, telephoning, and getting around outside. 

2 Community dwelling elderly persons were classified as cognitively impaired if they (i) had Alzheimer's disease, mental retardation, or senility; or (ii) had a diagnosed ADL or IADL-linked mental condition or disorder based on ICD9-CM codes; or (iii) answered incorrectly to four or more questions in the Mini Mental Status Questionnaire (when applied). Institutionalized elderly persons were classified as cognitively impaired if condition (iii) above applied. 

3 Available only for community disabled persons.

4 Lower body limitations included are difficulties with walking to the end of a room and back, climbing a flight of stairs, bending, and lifting a 10-pound package. Upper body limitations included are difficulty reaching above head, combing or brushing hair, and using fingers to grasp small objects.

a Unweighted cell size too small to report estimate.

Page last reviewed January 2001
Internet Citation: Table 7. Type of Care Received by Elderly Long-term Care (LTC) Users, 1994: The Characteristics of Long-term Care Users. January 2001. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://archive.ahrq.gov/professionals/systems/long-term-care/resources/facilities/ltcusers/tab7use.html