Title of Assessment
Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) Scale
Author(s)
Lawton, M. P. & Brody, E. M.
Year of Publication/Publisher
1969
Identify Type of Assessment
standardized
questionnaire
performance-based
interview
ipsative
Cost (identify source) & How to Access Assessment (include link if possible)
Population (who it is appropriate for [age, diagnosis, etc.])
older adults and can be used for individuals in the community and hospital settings
used as a baseline tool (can be compared to periodic assessment)
Appropriate Settings (potential practice settings appropriate to administer assessment in)
home health
acute care
Purpose of Assessment & Function(s)/Area(s) Assessed
"The assessment of functional status is critical when caring for older adults. Normal aging changes, acute chronic illness, worsening chronic illness, and hospitalization can contribute to a decline in the ability to perform tasks necessary to assist with targeting individualized rehabilitation needs or to plan for specific in-home services (such as meal preparation, nursing care, homemaker services, personal care, or continuous supervision). a functional assessment can also assist the clinician to focus on the person's baseline capabilities, facilitating early recognition of changes that may signify a need for additional resources or a medical work-up" (Gallo, 2006.
assesses independent living skills.
Administration (time to administer, group/individual, if there are subtests, can they be completed individually, are there specific instructions to ensure standardization, etc.)
10-20 minutes
User Qualifications
no training required
Materials Required
form/questionnaire
writing utensil
Scoring Procedure (how is assessment scored and what does score indicate)
8 domains of function measured with the Lawton IADL Scale
women are scored on all 8 areas of function: historically men were excluded from food preparation, housekeeping, and laundering
clients are scored according to their highest level of functioning in that category
a summary of scores ranges from 0 (low functioning, dependent) to 8 (high functioning, independent for women, and 0-5 for men
the final total score may be presented as a percentage of function.
a total score of 6 out of 8 would represent 75% function (75% independence, 25% dependence)
Psychometrics/Standardization (norms, reliability/validity studies)
inter-rater reliability= 0.85
Strengths & Weaknesses of Assessment
strengths
quick to administer
easily administered
weaknesses
due to self-reporting there can be over or under-estimations in abilities
References
Brody instrumental activities of daily living scale (IADL) (n.d.). Lawton –Brody Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale (IADL) (alz.org)
Lawton Scale: CGA toolkit plus. (n.d). Lawton Scale : CGA Toolkit Plus (cgakit.com)