The purposes of this study were to examine reliability and validity of ADL index for older people at home, and relationships between ADL score and various factors (ex. self-assessment of health status and physical fitness level, and exercise frequency/week), and to examine the screening basis for execution of physical fitness test based on distribution of ADL score. A questionnaire consisting of 12 ADL items and a physical fitness test of Ministry of Education, Science and Clture were administered to 5, 715 subjects 65 years or more age (male: 2, 745; female: 2, 970) . As a result of examining test-retest reliability of the ADL index, significant high correlations were shown among 12 ADL items (0.674≤r≤0.886), and in overall score (r=0.943) . The ADL score was significantly related to age and physical fitness test scores, and tended to be higher in subjects with a higher self-assessment of health status and physical fitness level, and with more frequency. It was suggested that these results prove the utility of the present ADL index. Further, as the result of examining relationships between distribution of overall ADL score and physical fitness test scores, the following screening bases were considered to be valid for judgement whether the physical fitness tests could be executed. The three screening bases using overall ADL score were: 1) 12 or under; 2) over 13 to under 24; 3) 24 and over. The four bases using item score were: 1) a category 1 response for items 1, 5 and 6; 2) a category 2 or 3 response for items 1, 5 and 6, and a category 1 response for items 3 and 4; 3) a category 3 response for items 2 and 14; 4) a category 1 response for items 10 and 12.

The purpose of this study was to propose useful ADLs (activities of daily living) and scales to estimate ADL ability on community older people from the viewpoints of aging, physical fitness level, and interrelationship among ADL. The survey constructing of 15 ADL items and physical fitness test of Ministry of Education, Science and Culture were carried out on 458 older people. Each ADL item was constructed with 3 level scales.
As the results of this study, the following 12 ADLs were proposed as useful ADL items; in the locomotion domain, jumping across a ditch, walking, running, up and down stairs, and transfer; in the manipulation domain, taking bedding in and out, buttoning a shirt; in stability domain, standing in the bus or train, dressing while standing (trousers), standing on one foot with eyes open; in the posture-change domain, sitting up, standing up from the floor. These items were significantly related to age and physical fitness elements contributed largely to achievement of each ADL. Since significant high correlation was found between the index using 12 ADL items and that using 15 items, it is considered that the 12 items scale can account for the variance corresponded enough to that of 15 items scale, and that the new index is practical and simple.
In further research, it will be required to examine validity of each ADL item and index by using more large sample, and to clarify the relation to various factors influenced to ADL ability level.