²Although most studies have found that overall disability rates in the elderly have improved over this time period (Freedman, Martin, and Schoeni 2002), this is not true for every disability measure. For example, while the mobility limitation prevalence increased slightly between 1990 and 2000, the ADL disability declined. Comparisons with analogous disability measures in the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) showed trends similar to what we found in the census. That is, ADL disability rates in the MCBS fell during this period, and although it has no question exactly like the mobility measure in the census, some measures of mobility in the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (including the ability to walk one-quarter of a mile unaided) worsened over this period. Therefore, the trends in disability and limitation in the census are not inconsistent with evidence from other national surveys. [Return to Text]