Disability by the Numbers
16
plain
2024-06-21T22:56:00+00:00
Title: Disability Impacts all of us
Up to 1 in 4 (27 percent) adults in the United States have some type of disability.
Percentage of adults with functional disability types:
- 12.1 percent of U.S. adults have a mobility disability with serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs.
- 12.8 percent of U.S. adults have a cognition disability with serious difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions.
- 7.2 percent of U.S. adults have an independent living disability with difficulty doing errands alone.
- 6.1 percent of U.S. adults are deaf or have serious difficulty hearing.
- 4.8 percent of U.S. adults have a vision disability with blindness or serious difficulty seeing even when wearing glasses.
- 3.6 percent of U.S. adults have a self-care disability with difficulty dressing or bathing.
Disability and Health
Adults with disabilities are more likely to be obese, smoke, have heart disease, and have diabetes:
- 41.6 percent of adults with a disability are obese while 29.6 percent of adults without a disability are obese.
- 21.9 percent of adults with a disability smoke while 10.9 percent of adults without a disability smoke.
- 9.6 percent of adults with a disability have heart disease while 3.4 percent of adults without a disability have heart disease.
- 15.9 percent of adults with a disability have diabetes while 7.6 percent of adults without a disability have diabetes.
Disability and Health Care Access
Health care access barriers for working-age adults include:
- 1 in 4 adults with disabilities 18 to 44 years do not have a dedicated health care provider.
- 1 in 4 adults with disabilities 18 to 44 years have an unmet health care need because of cost in the past year.
- 1 in 5 adults with disabilities 45 to 64 years did not have a routine check-up in the past year.
Making a difference
Public health is for all of us.
Join CDC and its partners as we work together to improve the health of people with disabilities.
- Building inclusive health program
- Improving access to health care
- Promoting healthy living
- Monitoring public health data
- Researching and reducing health disparities
References
1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Disability Impacts All of Us Infographic. Published May 15, 2023. Accessed June 17, 2024.