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Journal of Aging and Health, Vol. 16, No. 5, 688-722 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/0898264304268589
© 2004 SAGE Publications

Disability Symptoms and the Price of Self-Sufficiency

Lois M. Verbrugge

University of Michigan, verbrugg{at}umich.edu

Purvi Sevak

City University of New York

Objective: Disability symptoms are tiredness, slowness, and pain doing daily tasks made difficult by health. The authors study factors that increase and decrease disability symptoms, especially effects of equipment and personal assistance. Method: In National Health Interview Survey Disability Supplement Phase 2, people with personal care and household management disabilities were asked about fatigue, taking a long time, and pain when doing tasks on their own and with assistance. The authors study persons ages 55 and older. Results: Poor overall health or disability and severe disability in tasks increase disability symptom chances by 11% to 18%. Assistance users are 19% to 20% less likely to have symptoms than nonusers. Personal help, alone, or with equipment, relieves symptoms better than equipment only, by9%to 13%. Discussion: Equipment-only users are self-sufficient, a highly prized situation. Because they actively engage in tasks, symptoms are still likely. This trade-off of psychological gain with comfort loss may be preferable to personal help.

Key Words: disability • symptoms • assistance • personal help • equipment


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