FUNCTIONAL MEASURES OF GERIATRIC SUBJECTS IN THE COMMUNITY

The ''aging imperative'' is associated with a rising proportion of old er subjects in the population and an increasing prevalence of disabili ty. Assessment of functional status is needed to identify disability e arly when intervention is likely to be most effective and Standardized self-report assessments for elders at risk are reanalyzed in this art icle to produce concise linear measures from ordinal scales. This perm its quantification of measurement error while apparently yielding the same clinical information in less time and with less respondent burden .