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Disability and Functioning
Data are for the U.S.
Selected sensory problems
- Percent of adults age 18 and older with any difficulty hearing: 15.4% (2023)
- Percent of adults age 18 and older with any difficulty seeing: 18.8% (2023)
Source: Interactive Summary Health Statistics for Adults: National Health Interview Survey, 2019-2023
Difficulties in physical functioning
- Percent of adults age 18 and older with any difficulty walking or climbing steps: 18.6% (2023)
Source: Interactive Summary Health Statistics for Adults: National Health Interview Survey, 2019-2023
Level of reported difficulty in six domains of functioning (seeing, hearing, mobility, communication, cognition, self-care)
- Number of adults age 18 and older reporting a lot of difficulty or cannot do at all in at least one domain of functioning: 22.7 million (2019)
- Percent of adults age 18 and older reporting a lot of difficulty or cannot do at all in at least one domain of functioning: 9.0% (2019)
- Number of adults age 65 and older reporting a lot of difficulty or cannot do at all in at least one domain of functioning: 10.2 million (2019)
- Percent of adults age 65 and older reporting a lot of difficulty or cannot do at all in at least one domain of functioning: 19.3% (2019)
Source: Health, United States, 2020-2021, table FxLimit [PDF – 9.8 MB]
Related FastStats
More data
- Trends in Functional Limitation from Health, United States
- Health, United States — Topic Page: Functional limitation
- Eye Disorders and Vision Loss Among U.S. Adults Ages 45 and Older With Diagnosed Diabetes, 2016–2017
- Hearing Difficulties Among Adults: United States, 2019
- Stressful Life Events Among Children Ages 5-17 Years by Disability Status: United States, 2019
Related Links
- National Health Interview Survey
- National Health Interview Survey on Disability
- Disability and Health Data System
- National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR)
- Washington Group on Disability Statistics