Profile of arthritis disability: II.
OBJECTIVE
Arthritis is the most common chronic condition and the most common cause of disability among older US adults. We studied social participation, disabilities in many life domains, accommodations used (buffers), and accommodations needed (barriers) for US adults with arthritis disability compared with adults with disability from other conditions.


METHODS
The data source is the National Health Interview Survey Disability Supplement Phase Two. Arthritis-disabled individuals named arthritis as the main cause of > or =1 disabilities. Other-disabled individuals named only other conditions as causes of their disabilities. We compared outcomes for the groups, taking sample weights and complex variances into account.


RESULTS
Arthritis-disabled individuals get out and about less often than other-disabled individuals, but they manage to maintain active social ties. They have more disabilities of all types (personal care, household management, physical tasks, transportation, home, work), and the disabilities often cause fatigue, long task time, and pain. Despite this, arthritis-disabled individuals use less personal assistance than other-disabled individuals; they do use more equipment assistance. Arthritis-disabled individuals report more barriers in getting around outside their home and at their workplace.


CONCLUSIONS
The distinctive profile of arthritis disability includes extensive and uncomfortable disabilities, yet there are active management strategies to handle these disabilities. Problems away from home and at work should inspire engineers and planners to improve public access and equipment for persons with this high-prevalence disability.
Verbrugge
Lois M
LM
Institute of Gerontology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. verbrugg@umich.edu
Juarez
Lucia
L
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D001107:Architectural Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001168:Arthritis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000534:rehabilitation* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004651:Employment; D005260:Female; D006296:Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012919:Social Behavior; D014186:Transportation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology