Changes in the Prevalence of ADL Limitation among Older Asians: A Cross-Country Comparison

Mary Beth Ofstedal, University of Michigan
Angelique Chan, National University of Singapore
Albert Hermalin, University of Michigan
Josefina Natividad, University of the Philippines

The objective of this paper is to examine changes in the prevalence of ADL limitation among persons age 60 years or older in several Asian countries. The data utilized for these analyses come from recent panel surveys of older adults that span a period of three to four years during the mid to late 1990s. Preliminary results suggest that the prevalence of ADL limitation among older persons increased fairly substantially in Indonesia, increased slightly in the Philippines and Taiwan, and did not change in Singapore. Compositional differences in the population accounted for little of the increase in ADL limitation and overall levels of ADL limitation were low in all countries throughout the study period. The paper discusses the potential implications of these results and places them in the context of past and current trends in ADL limitation observed in the United States and other developed countries.