2006 State Report > Our Health > Disabilities
Our Health: Disabilities
The ability of older Americans to remain living independently is a major challenge in our state and nation - one that is likely to increase as our population ages. Due to the number of debilitating chronic and long-term illnesses that tend to strike later in life, this growing population of older people will be at increased risk for disability, ultimately leading to loss of independence and the need for either at-home or nursing facility care.
Among South Carolina adults aged 65 and older in 2004, an estimated 42.8 percent had at least one disability. For adults aged 75 and older, the percentage with a disability climbed to 53.6. Older women have a higher prevalence of disability than older men. In 2004, 45.4 percent of women aged 65 and older reported having a disability, compared with 39.2 percent of men in the same age range.
Population with a Disability by Age and Gender: 2004
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2004 American Community Survey, Table B18002.
There were an estimated 92,166 adults aged 65 and older in South Carolina in 2004 who had one type of disability. An additional 117,175 people aged 65 and older had more than one disability, and 279,879 had no disabilities at all.
According to the 2004 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 28.8 percent of South Carolina respondents aged 65 and over reported that they were limited in some way because of physical, mental, or emotional problems. Nineteen percent said that they had a health problem requiring the use of special equipment such as a cane, wheelchair, special bed, or special telephone.
Despite its real and profound impact, loss of independence is an under-analyzed condition among mature adults. Loss of independence is most commonly attributed to one or more categories of disability. The U.S. Census Bureau defines five different types of disabilities that can contribute to lost independence:
- Sensory disabilities, involving sight or hearing. In 2004, 17.9 percent of adults aged 65 and over in South Carolina had a sensory disability.
- Physical disabilities, which limit basic physical activities such as walking, climbing stairs, reaching, lifting, or carrying. In 2004, 32.6 percent of adults aged 65 and over in South Carolina had a physical disability.
- Mental disabilities, which cause difficulty in learning, remembering or concentrating. In 2004, 12.2 percent of adults aged 65 and over in South Carolina had a mental disability.
- Self-care disabilities, which cause difficulty in dressing, bathing, or getting around inside the home. In 2004, 10.5 percent of adults aged 65 and over in South Carolina had a self-care disability.
- Go-outside-home disabilities, which make it difficult to go outside the home to shop or visit a doctor. In 2004, 16.6 percent of adults aged 65 and over in South Carolina had a go-outside-home disability.
Older adults with a disability are more likely to live below poverty than those without a disability. In 2003, 18.2 percent of South Carolinians aged 65 and older with a disability had incomes below poverty in the past twelve months. Among people in the same age range without a disability, only 8.1 percent had incomes below poverty. Disabled women are more likely to live below poverty than disabled men. Twenty-one percent of disabled women aged 65 and over lived below poverty in 2003, compared with 14.0 percent of older disabled men.
Disabled and Non-Disabled Population Aged 65+ Below Poverty: 2003
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2003 American Community Survey.