Table 4 Proportion (percent) of 3097 community-dwelling subjects who reported problems or deficits in various activities of daily living (ADLs)

Walking 500 m without walking aids

32.3

16.1

<0.001

26.1

19.4

<0.001

35.4

19.9

<0.001

Climbing stairs up and down without walking aids

32.9

16.2

<0.001

27.3

18.7

<0.001

37.5

19.8

<0.001

Use fingers to grab and use small things

8.2

3.6

<0.001

6.3

4.6

0.032

10.4

4.4

<0.001

Turn on a tap or unscrew a can

8.1

3.8

<0.001

6.9

4.3

0.002

10.2

4.6

<0.001

Stretch hand and shake hands

3.2

0.9

<0.001

2.5

1.2

0.010

3.5

1.5

0.001

Bend or kneel down

57.3

26.8

<0.001

48.0

30.4

<0.001

58.1

35.0

<0.001

Lift and carry a shopping bag with 5 kg

44.8

22.9

<0.001

37.3

26.3

<0.001

53.2

27.0

<0.001

Eat independently

7.6

6.5

0.219

7.0

6.9

0.912

9.8

6.3

0.003

Sit down on a chair or bed and stand up

14.9

9.6

<0.001

13.8

8.5

<0.001

18.6

9.5

<0.001

Put on and take off clothes

16.6

10.4

<0.001

14.9

10.9

0.001

18.1

11.8

<0.001

Go to the toilet

8.2

6.8

0.154

7.5

7.3

0.758

10.5

6.7

0.002

Take a bath or a shower

22.2

12.8

<0.001

19.2

14.1

<0.001

25.8

14.6

<0.001

Prepare food

21.7

15.3

<0.001

19.7

16.1

0.010

23.3

16.9

0.003

Make telephone calls independently

6.4

5.1

0.140

5.7

5.6

0.937

7.4

5.3

0.049

Go shopping independently

27.9

15.1

<0.001

23.5

17.2

<0.001

31.1

17.9

<0.001

Wash clothes independently

24.8

17.4

<0.001

22.0

18.9

0.037

24.4

19.6

0.010

Do regularly light house work

21.4

13.9

<0.001

19.6

14.2

<0.001

24.4

15.2

<0.001

Do regularly heavy house work

57.4

34.6

<0.001

49.2

38.6

<0.001

62.1

39.8

<0.001

Manage financial affairs independently

15.4

8.9

<0.001

11.9

11.1

0.496

16.4

10.4

<0.001

ADL dimension 1*

74.5

46.9

<0.001

65.9

50.3

<0.001

77.5

53.8

<0.001

ADL dimension 2*

35.6

24.7

<0.001

32.2

26.1

<0.001

37.9

27.2

<0.001

ADL dimension 3*

29.7

18.3

<0.001

26.2

19.7

<0.001

34.6

20.3

<0.001

ADL dimension 4*

13.6

6.1

<0.001

11.2

7.1

<0.001

15.8

7.7

<0.001