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Section 2: Characteristics of disability in adult life
2.8. To what extent do people 65 years and older with a mental disability have physical and communication disabilities?
Nearly 4 million people 65 years and older had a mental disability in 1997 (3,912,000, or 12.2% of the population 65 years and over). There were 203,000 with a mental disability alone (0.6%), 137,000 with a mental and communication disability (0.4%), 1,403,000 with a mental and physical disability (4.4%), and 2,168,000 with a disability in all three domains (6.8%). The SIPP category of mental disability includes people with mental retardation, learning disabilities, and dementias ‹ groups that are not generally included in the data reported in this chartbook.
Most people 65 years and older with mental disability have other disabilities.
Figure 14: Number of people age 65 years and over with mental disability, and mental disability in combination with physical and communication disabilities
Source: McNeil (2001)
Surveys: SIPP, 1997
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