Comparison of the Prevalence of Disability in 2 Birth Cohorts at the Age of 75 Years and Over

This research was designed to compare the prevalences of disability among cohorts born in 1903 or earlier (N = 348) and in 1913 or earlier (N = 586) at the age of 75 years and over in a geographically defined area. Disability was measured in terms of the number of ADL limitations according to Katz' index. The distributions of the cohorts according to Katz' index were essentially similar and the prevalence of disability was 29.2% in the earlier cohort and 34.8% in the later one. The occurrence of disability did not differ in logistic analysis (p = 0.08). The results suggest that the number of disabled old people increases in parallel to the growth in the elderly population.