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Development, reliability, and validity of the Manchester Respiratory Activities of Daily Living (ADL) Questionnaire (MRADL) are discussed in this brief methodological report article. A respiratory-specific ADLs scale for use in older patients is needed. The MRADL is a composite of the most discriminative questions for the Nottingham Extended ADL Questionnaire and the Breathing Problems Questionnaire. A group of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) subjects completed a pulmonary rehabilitation program to assess responsiveness of the MRADL to intervention. It was found to be reliable and valid as a self-report scale.

Cross-sectional assessments of visual function and retrospective collection of fall data were carried out to assess validity of the Activities of Daily Vision Scale (ADVS) as a tool to evaluate fall risk in older adults with impaired vision. Results suggest that the ADVS may be a useful tool to assess fall risk in older adults with vision impairment especially in those with diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and/or cataracts.

Misreporting of total energy intake for older people is not unusual in dietary studies and a study has been carried out to examine misreporting of total energy intake by comparing self-reported food intake, using 3-day food diaries, to energy expenditure as measured with the doubly labeled water technique. Few studies, relatively, have been carried out in older persons, male and female, who may be vulnerable to obesity and associated health risks. Potential predictors of misreporting were to be identified by the study. It was found that men and women in general underreported total energy intake and underreporting correlated with waist circumference, fat mass and body mass index.

This article evaluates the usefulness of conducting mass screenings for visual impairments among elderly populations. Findings indicate that using self-report questionnaires about visual impairments as a part of a more comprehensive health assessment did not lead to improvements in self-reported vision among older adults.