This study analyzed the first two waves (1993-1994 and 1995-1996) of the national Survey on Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old. It focused on the prevalence of a common intrinsic disability at Wave 1—an unaided physiological hardship in walking across a room—and sought which factors eliminated the hardship so that there was no actual disability. Nonmetro and metro elderly people with this intrinsic disability were equally likely to use personal help in walking across a room and to resort to the same walking devices. Yet, nonmetro elderly people were less successful than their metro counterparts in avoiding mild residual hardship in interior ambulation. Reasons included a larger number of lower-body limitations among the nonmetro elderly and the greater absence of accommodative architectural features from nonmetro homes. This article concludes with a discussion of public policies that could assist disabled elders to remain community dwellers.
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