The Resource Implications study (RIS), a substudy of The Medical Research Council’s Cognitive Function and Ageing Study (MRC CFAS) produced estimates of the number of cognitively impaired and physically disabled elderly people in England and Wales.
Study Design
A description of the main CFAS design can be found on other pages on this site.
At the screening interviews for the main study (1991/2) 1446 people were classified as disabled by the study and were selected to be monitored for 2 years as part of the resource implication substudy. Service monitoring data was subsequently available for 1391 of these people.
Several different scales were used to categorise the participants.
- A modified Townsend activities of daily living scale was used to assess the level of help the subjects required to carry out various tasks. The activities assessed vary from personal care tasks such as washing and toenail cutting to use of public transport and cooking.
- Participants were classified as cognitively impaired using the ‘AGECAT’ computer programme
- Participants were also classified by the ‘interval of need for care’. This is based on the time interval that passes between essential activities that the subject requires help with. For example, ‘long interval’ means needing care less often than once daily and ‘critical interval’ means needing care or supervision continuously.
Results
From the study sample and using the study definitions of disability it was estimated that there are 1.3M disabled elderly people in England and Wales, which is 15.7% of those aged 65 years and over (95% CI 15.1-16.3%)
Of the estimated 1.3M disabled elderly people –
- 3% (35576) would be independent
- 14%(171586) would need care less often than daily (long interval)
- 62% (778401) would need care at some point daily (short interval)
- 21% (268 863) would need care continuously (critical interval)
Other key messages –
- 38% of disabled elderly people have cognitive impairment
- People aged over 85 years and people with cognitive impairment combined with limitations in activities of daily living make-up a large proportion of those needing institutional care or intensive home support.
- Formal community services were the only source of support for 29% of physically disabled elderly people and 23% of those with physical and cognitive disabilities in the community
- 43% of disabled elderly people were admitted to acute hospitals during the 2 year follow-up period.
Reference
Medical Research Council Cognitive Function and Ageing Study (MRC CFAS) and Resource Implications Study (RIS MRC CFAS). Profile of disability in elderly people: estimates from a longitudinal population study. BMJ 1999;318:1108-11
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