Table 6. Characteristics of Community and Institutional Elderly Long-term Care (LTC) Users, 1984 and 1994

The Characteristics of Long-term Care Users

1

CharacteristicsCommunityInstitutional
1984199419841994
Number of LTC Users (thousands)4,0953,9001,4091,638
Percent of All Elderly14.611.85.04.9
Mean Age (years)78.179.182.383.7
 Percent Distribution by Characteristic
Gender
Female
Male		65.2
34.8		69.3
30.7		73.5
26.5		74.0
26.0
Race
White
Black
Other		84.9
13.4
1.7		84.6
13.8
1.6		93.6
5.6
0.8		92.7
6.7
0.6
Marital Status
Married
Widowed
Never married
Separated/divorced		42.3
48.3
4.9
4.4		41.9
48.0
3.9
6.3		13.4
65.3
16.0
5.3		15.6
67.2
10.7
6.5
Level of IADL/ADL Disability
IADLs only
1-2 ADLs
3-6 ADLs		49.7
25.7
24.6		38.9
31.2
29.9		8.6
24.5
66.9		8.1
18.0
73.9
Cognitively Impaired2 24.227.461.170.3

Source: 1984 and 1994 National Long-term Care Surveys. 

Note: Some percentages may not add to 100 because of missing values. For dichotomous variables except gender, excluded category not shown. Except where shown, missing values do not exceed 2% of the relevant sample.

1 Long-term care use is defined as receipt of 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.

Current as of January 2001
Internet Citation: Table 6. Characteristics of Community and Institutional Elderly Long-term Care (LTC) Users, 1984 and 1994: The Characteristics of Long-term Care Users. January 2001. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/professionals/systems/long-term-care/resources/facilities/ltcusers/tab6use.html