Codes and Frequencies
Description
LATOTAL reports whether, and to what extent, persons were limited in their activities due to one or more chronic conditions. The range of limitations reported, from most to least severe, were:
- Cannot perform usual activity [major activity, 1982-1996]
- Can perform usual activity [major activity, 1982-1996], but limited in amount and kind
- Can perform usual activity [major activity, 1982-1996], but limited in outside [other, 1982-1996] activities
- Not limited (includes unknowns)
The 1969-1981 Field Representative's Manuals defined the expression "limitation of activities" as follows:
A person is limited if he considers himself to be limited in the kind or amount of work, housework, play or other activities he can do.
This changed in 1982 when LATOTAL became a recode. The 1982-1996 Field Representative's Manuals defined "limited" as follows:
A person is "limited" in the activity if he/she can only partially perform the activity, or can do it fully only part of the time, or cannot do it at all.
Moreover, in 1982-1996 interviewers were told not to define the term "limited" for respondents. If respondents asked for a definition, interviewers were to "emphasize that we are interested in whether the respondent thinks the person is limited in the specific activity."
Data Collection
1969-1981
In 1969-1981, the information in LATOTAL was collected through a series of questions whose complicated skip pattern depended on the subject's age and, for adults, the declared major activity of the person during the preceding twelve months. (See MAJACT)
The questions and relevant skip patterns are:
Persons under age 1 year: "Is [person] limited in any way because of his health?" If "yes," then "In what way is he limited?"
Persons age 1-5 years: "Is [person] able to take part at all in ordinary play with other children?" If "yes," then "Is he limited in the kind of play he can do because of his health?" If "yes," then "Is he limited in the amount of play because of his health?" If "no," then "Is [person] limited in any way because of a disability or health?"
Persons age 6-16 years going to school: "Does (would) [person] have to go to a certain kind of school because of health?" If "no," then "Is he (would he be) limited in school attendance because of his health?" If "no," then "Is he limited in the kind or amount of other activities because of his health?" If "no," then "Is [person] limited in any way because of a disability or health?"
Persons age 6-16 years not going to school for most of the past 12 months: "In terms of health would [person] be able to go to school?" If "yes," then ask the questions associated with children age 6-16 going to school.
Persons age 17+ years who are working: (if male) "Does [person] now have a job?" If "no," or if female, then "In terms of health, is [person] now able to (work or keep house) at all?" If "yes," to either, then "Is he limited in the kind of (work - housework) he can do because of his health?" If "no," then "Is he limited in the amount of (work - housework) he can do because of his health?" If "no," then "Is he limited in the kind or amount of other activities because of his health?" If "no," then "Is [person] limited in any way because of a disability or health?"
Retired persons age 44+ years, or persons age 17+ years who neither worked, nor kept house, nor went to school for most of the past 12 months: "Does [person's] health now keep him from working?" If "no," then "Is he limited in the kind of work he could do because of his health?" If "no," then "Is he limited in the amount of work he could do because of his health?" If "no," then "Is he limited in the kind or amount of other activities because of his health?" If "no," then "Is [person] limited in any way because of a disability or health?"
1982-1996
In 1982-1996, the information in LATOTAL was collected through a series of questions with complex skip patterns. However, both the questions and the skip patterns are somewhat different from those in 1969-1981.
Though not identified in the 1982-1996 publicly available
Codebooks, the questions and relevant skip patterns are:
Codebooks, the questions and relevant skip patterns are:
Persons under age 5 years: "Is [person] able to take part at all in the usual kind of play activities done by most children of [person's] age?" If "yes," then "Is [person] limited in the kind or amount of play activities [he or she] can do because of any impairment or health problem?" If "no," then "Is [person] limited in any way in any activities because of an impairment or health problem?"
Persons age 5-17 years: "Does any impairment or health problem now keep [person] from attending school?" If "no," then "Does [person] attend a special school or special classes because of any impairment or health problem?" If "no," then "Does [person] need to attend a special school or special classes because of any impairment or health problems?" If "no," then "Is [person] limited in school attendance because of [his or her] health?" If "no," then "Is [person] limited in any way in any activities because of an impairment or health problem?"
Persons age 18-70 years
:
For persons who identified their major activity as Working (or, when two or more activities were reported, who spent the most time working or considered working their most important activity): "Does any impairment or health problem now keep [person] from working at a job or business?" If "no," then "Is [person] limited in the kind or amount of work [person] can do because of an impairment or health problem?" If "no," then "Is [person] limited in any way in any activities because of an impairment or health problem?"
For persons who identified their major activity as Keeping House (or, when two or more activities were reported, who spent the most time keeping house or considered keeping house their most important activity): "Does any impairment or health problem now keep [person] from doing any housework at all?" If "no," then "Is [person] limited in the kind or amount of housework [person] can do because of any impairment or health problem?" If either "yes" or "no," then "Does any impairment or health problem keep [person] from working at a job or business?" If "no," then "Is [person] limited in the kind or amount of work [person] could do because of any impairment or health problem?" If "no," (and if the person has not reported any limitation in the kind or amount of housework he or she can do), then "Is [person] limited in any way in any activities because of an impairment or health problem?"
For persons who identified their major activity as Going to School or Something Else (or, when two or more activities were reported, who spent the most time going to school or something else, or considered going to school or something else their most important activity): "Does any impairment or health problem keep [person] from working at a job or business?" If "no," then "Is [person] limited in the kind or amount of work [person] could do because of any impairment or health problem?" If "no," (and if the person has not reported any limitation in the kind or amount of housework he or she can do), then "Is [person] limited in any way in any activities because of an impairment or health problem?"
Persons age 71+ years: "Is [person] limited in any way in any activities because of an impairment or health problem?"
Comparability
The terminology used in labeling this variable in the Codebooks changed from "usual activity" (1969-1981) to "major activity" (1982-1996). Because the survey questions used to elicit the information did not use either of these expressions, this semantic shift had minimal or no effect on the comparability of the variability over time.
There are a number of comparability issues:
Comparability between 1969-1972 and 1973-1996 is compromised by universe changes.
For 1969-1972, persons with no chronic conditions were coded as "Not in Universe" (code 5), and the "Not Limited" category was restricted to persons with chronic condition(s) who were not limited in performing either their major activity or other activities, or for whom limitation status was unknown. In contrast, for 1973-1996, all persons were included in the variable universe, and the "Not Limited" included persons with chronic conditions but no limitations, persons with chronic conditions whose limitation status was unknown, and persons without chronic conditions.
Comparability between 1969-1981 and 1982-1996 is compromised both by the differences in the categories and by changes in the wording of questions. I
Category Differences
- 1969-1981 has two categories for persons under 6 years of age: "Persons under age 1 year," and "Persons age 1-5 years". In contrast, 1982-1996 has a single category, "Persons under age 5 years."
- 1969-1981 has two categories for persons 6-16 years of age: "Persons age 6-16 years going to school," and "Persons age 6-16 years not going to school for most of the past 12 months." In contrast, 1982-1996 has a single category for "Persons age 5-17 years."
- 1969-1981 has a category "Retired persons age 44+ years, or persons age 17+ not working, keeping house or going to school for most of the past 12 months." There is no category in 1982-1996 that refers to retired persons. The category closest to the 1969-1981 category is persons age 18-70 years who identified their major activity (or, if two or more activities were reported, either spent the most time doing or considered the most important) as going to school or something else.
- There is no 1969-1981 category that corresponds directly to the 1982-1996 category "Persons age 71+ years."
Question Wording Differences
- The initial 1982-1996 question for persons under age 5 years asks for a comparison to "most children of [person's] age." This comparison is not present in the 1969-1981 question for persons age 1-5 years.
- Both 1969-1981 and 1982-1996 ask of school age persons (age 6-16 years in 1969-1981, and age 5-17 years in 1982-1996) whether the person attends a certain school (1969-1981), special school (1982-1996) or special classes (1982-1996) because of health (1969-1996) or impairment (1982-1996). However, if the answer is "no," only 1982-1996 has the follow-up question of whether the person needs "to attend a special school or special classes because of an impairment or health problem."
Universe
- 1963-1971: Persons with 1+ chronic conditions.
- 1972-1996: All persons.
Availability
- 1963-1996
Weights
- 1963-1996 : PERWEIGHT
