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QuickStats: Percentage* of Adults Aged ≥18 Years with Disability,† by Diagnosed Diabetes Status§ and Age Group — National Health Interview Survey,¶ United States, 2018
Weekly / May 22, 2020 / 69(20);638
* With 95% confidence intervals indicated with error bars.
† Disability is defined by the reported level of difficulty to questions about six domains of functioning: “Do you have any difficulty…seeing, even if wearing glasses; hearing, even if wearing hearing aids; walking or climbing stairs; communicating, for example understanding or being understood; remembering or concentrating; and self-care, such as washing all over or dressing.” Response categories are “no difficulty,” “some difficulty,” “a lot of difficulty,” or “cannot do at all.” Adults who respond “a lot of difficulty” or “cannot do at all” to at least one domain are classified as having disability.
§ Diabetes status was determined by a positive response to the survey question “Have you ever been told by a doctor or other health professional that you have diabetes or sugar diabetes?” Women were asked not to include diabetes occurring during pregnancy.
¶ Estimates are based on household interviews of a sample of the civilian, noninstitutionalized U.S. population aged ≥18 years and are derived from the National Health Interview Survey Sample Adult component.
In 2018, among adults aged ≥18 years, those ever receiving a diagnosis of diabetes were more likely to have disability than those never receiving a diagnosis of diabetes (27.1% versus 8.1%). This pattern was consistent among adults aged 18–44 (16.3% versus 4.4%), 45–64 (24.5% versus 8.1%), and ≥65 years (33.3% versus 18.5%). Regardless of diabetes status, the percentage of adults with disability increased with age.
Source: National Health Interview Survey, 2018. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis.htm.
Reported by: Nazik Elgaddal, MS, nelgaddal@cdc.gov, 301-458-4538; Julie D. Weeks, PhD.
Suggested citation for this article: QuickStats: Percentage of Adults Aged ≥18 Years with Disability, by Diagnosed Diabetes Status and Age Group — National Health Interview Survey, United States, 2018. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2020;69:638. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6920a5.
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