Self-reported versus professionally assessed functional limitations in community-dwelling very old individuals

The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between self-reported and professionally assessed functional limitations in community-dwelling very old individuals. In total, 306 single-living adults aged 81-90 years were included in this cross-sectional study. The main outcome measure was the presence and absence of self-reported and professionally assessed functional limitations. A significant correlation was found between the total number of self-reported and professionally assessed functional limitations in the total sample (intraclass correlation=0.65) as well as in subgroups with respect to sex, age, and depression. When item-wise differences in the two assessments were assessed, the results showed significant differences for nine of the 15 functional limitations. In general, the participants reported more functional limitations as present than the professional did. In conclusion, research on self-reported and professionally assessed functional limitations contributes toward the understanding of how different modes of data collection influence the results. In this study, functional limitations were examined on a broad basis, including physical as well as cognitive and perceptual limitations. Once the assessments of self-reporting have been refined, we will have a more nuanced picture of functional limitations, incorporating self-report as well as professional assessments.