What do 70-year-old men and women actually do? And what are they able to do? From the Glostrup survey in 1984.

The study includes an interview-based assessment of functional capacity in a random sample of 734 70-year-old people, and describes what they do, and what they are able to do. This was achieved by PADL and IADL assessment with a classification especially developed for elderly people addressing speed, frequency, tiredness and need for help, and the distinction between what the elderly do and what they are able to do. Great differences were found between PADL and IADL. All PADL were performed by nearly everyone while no IADL were performed by everybody. Unlike PADL, significant differences between men and women were found in nearly all IADL. Only a few elderly persons were unable to perform PADL, while considerably more were incapable of carrying out IADL without help.