2.4.3. Instrumental Activities of Daily Living

Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs) were measured by the Lawton IADL Scale [29], which is ideal for community-dwelling older adults [30]. Performance was examined on the 5-items scale with doing household chores, cooking, shopping, managing money, taking medications [29]. Respondents were asked “Do you have any difficulty with the following instrumental activity of daily living?” With the scoring system used in CHARLS, each item was scored as following: 1 signified “do not have any difficulty”, 2 signified “have difficulties but still can do it”, 3 signified “have difficulties and help is needed”, and 4 signified “cannot complete it”. A sum score of all items >5 was categorized as “impaired IADLs”.