In comparison with the full population of elderly Medicare beneficiaries (47), this sample of home care patients
was older (24% versus 11% were 85 years old or older), disproportionately female (65% versus 57%), and more likely
to live in poverty (26% versus 11%) but similar in racial/
ethnic distribution. Compared with all Medicare beneficiaries, these home care patients were more than twice as
likely to report at least one disability in activities of daily
living (55% versus 23%).