A hierarchical categorisation of tasks in mobility disability

Purpose. In the field of long-term care, disability usually refers to difficulties in instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) or basic activities of daily living (BADL); this term may also refer to difficulties in mobility for those more interested in preventive intervention or general health promotion. The aims of this study were to (1) categorise a complete set of mobility tasks according to a revealed hierarchy, and (2) examine the relationship between this mobility hierarchy and IADL/BADL disabilities.Methods. We categorised nine mobility tasks according to appearance order in self-reported difficulties data obtained from a Taiwanese national database of community-dwelling elders aged over 65. We also performed correlation tests to explore the relationships of these mobility tasks with six tasks each of IADL and BADL.Results. The results revealed a three-level hierarchy of mobility disability: (1) mild disability indicated by difficulties in four mobility tasks, which correlated with difficulty...