One in five U.S. adults has a disability, and black and Hispanic adults living in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee are the most likely Americans to self-identify as having a disability.
That's what a telephone survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported this week. CDC said the most common "functional disability" reported was a mobility limitation — defined as serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs. The rest, in order of frequency reported, were a disability in thinking and/or memory, independent living, vision, and self-care.
Folks in the South reported the highest levels of disability, with Alabama (31.5 percent), Mississippi (31.4 percent), and Tennessee (31.4 percent) leading the way. Why the South? The study didn't try to answer that empirically, but noted that "states in the South tend to have some of the higher rates of chronic diseases, such as heart disease and diabetes, which may also be associated with disability."
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Highest rates of disability by race were non-Hispanic black (29 percent) and Hispanic (25.9 percent) adults, with white non-Hispanic adults a full five percentage points lower.
"Those with lower education levels, lower incomes, and those who are unemployed were also more likely to report a disability," the report said, confirming that being a wealthy, white and gainfully employed college graduate continues to have its advantages in the U.S.
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
