[Comparison of scaling methods for activities of daily living in older people].

Objective: To compare the psychometric properties of scales top measure activities of daily living, constructed with different scaling methods, and to check whether the most complex scales have higher discriminatory capacity.

Method: Sample of elderly people from the Spanish Survey on Disability, Personal Autonomy and Dependency We used 14 items that measured activities of daily living. Five scaling methods were applied: Sum and Rasch (both for dichotomous and polytomous items) and Guttman (dichotomous).

A higher level of education amplifies the inverse association between income and disability in the Spanish elderly.

Background And Aims: This paper aims to estimate if the education level modifies the association of income with disability prevalence in the elderly. Education can have a confounding effect on income or interact with it as a health determinant. It is important to analyze the relationship between socio-economic status and disability in older people, because it helps to better understand health inequalities and organize appropriate social policies.

Perceived economic situation, but not education level, is associated with disability prevalence in the Spanish elderly: observational study.

Background: The aim of this paper is to ascertain if the subjective perception of the economic situation of a household is associated with the prevalence of disability in old age, net of education level. Subjective economic perception is less non-response biased. Knowing if the self-perceived economic situation is related to disability over and above education level has important implications both for understanding the mechanisms that lead to disability and for selecting policies to reduce it.