Activities of daily living

Part A - Short definition:

Not applicable

Part B - Detailed definition:

Refers to difficulties with carrying out daily activities and whether the amount or kind of activities that can be done are reduced due to physical or mental conditions or health problems.

Reported in:

2011

Reported for:

Population in private households

Question number(s):

Questions 7 and 8

Responses:

Question 7: Difficulties with daily activities:

• Yes, sometimes
• Yes, often
• No

Question 8: Reduction in activities:

(a) at home:

• Yes, sometimes
• Yes, often
• No

(b) at work or at school:

• Yes, sometimes
• Yes, often
• No
• Not applicable

(c) in other activities:

• Yes, sometimes
• Yes, often
• No

Remarks:

In 2011, the following instructions were provided to NHS respondents:

1. These questions refer to conditions or health problems that have lasted or are expected to last six months or more.
2. For young children, consider only those conditions or problems that have been diagnosed by a professional.

Questions 7 and 8 provide information on the number of people in Canada who have difficulties with daily activities, and whose activities are reduced because of a physical or mental condition or a health problem. These questions, which are intended to only be used as filter questions for a follow up survey, do not provide an estimate of disability in Canada.

The 2012 Canadian Survey on Disability (CSD), which is conducted as a follow up survey to the NHS, is the main source of disability data in Canada. The population covered by the CSD includes all adults who answered 'yes' to either of the activity limitation questions on the NHS.

The main reason that responses to the NHS filter questions cannot be used to estimate disability in Canada is the large number of 'false positives.' In other words, a respondent reported a limitation on the NHS but did not report a disability on the CSD. There can be a number of reasons for these false positives. For example, the response may have been obtained by proxy whereby the person answering the NHS believed that the individual in question had some type of activity limitation or disability, however, the individual does not consider him or herself to have any type of limitation at the time of the CSD. Other examples of false positives are persons who were injured, sick or recovering from surgery at the time of the NHS but no longer limited in their activities at the time of the CSD.

As a result of this phenomenon, it is essential that users of the NHS Activity Limitation data be aware that the filter questions cannot be used on their own as an estimate of the population with a disability.

Activity limitation data from the 2011 NHS will be available upon special request only. These data have minimum edits and should be used with caution.