ACS Data Users Group

Hello. I am looking for state-level data regarding the number of "homebound" persons (for various age categories, too, if available). Ideas?

Not precisely what you're looking for, but ACS table B18105 is "SEX BY AGE BY AMBULATORY DIFFICULTY". The definition of ambulatory difficulty is “serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs,” so this is certainly not the same as being confined to one's home, but it might be a start.
data.census.gov/.../table

The ACS may not be the best source for this topic. Perhaps there is a public health data source that might be more on point? Does anyone have suggestions? This is not an area with which I am familiar. I took a quick look at the City Health Dashboard (aka 500 Cities) and did not see anything that looked like it would be on topic.

Dear Gwen, I am doing some work for our local council on ageing. As suggested by Bernie, for them I'm using the "difficulty" questions. Read the ACS survey form to see what the questions are. There are about 5 or 6 "dimensions" e.g. hearing sight cognitive ambulatory etc One question is:

Because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition, does this person have difficulty doing
errands alone such as visiting a doctor’s office or shopping? There are other questions about climbing stairs and dressing.

2022 form https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/methodology/questionnaires/2022/quest22.pdf page 14 For veterans, there is a "service related disability" question with a percent.

These questions are broken out by age

Interesting. I see some localities have surveyed residents on this to get an idea of how many need vaccination in the home and there’s also a Medicare definition (to be certified by a doctor) www.medicareinteractive.org/.../the-homebound-requirement

Dear Gwen,

Dave Dorer again. The CDC survey that Cliff is referring to is the BRFSS telephone survey.

https://www.cdc.gov/brfss/questionnaires/index.htm. The survey design has a complicated structure and requires a special statisticcal package to analyze, such as the R survey package. My background is in biostatistics so I have worked with data like the BRFSS. If you want to discuss more details email info@dorerfoundation.org and we can continue the discussion via email.