Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale
Activity | Description | Score* |
|---|---|---|
Using the telephone | Uses a telephone, including looking up and dialing numbers | 1 |
Dials a few familiar numbers | 1 | |
Answers the telephone but does not dial | 1 | |
Does not use the telephone | 0 | |
Shopping | Does all the shopping without help | 1 |
Shops for small items without help | 0 | |
Needs to be accompanied whenever shopping | 0 | |
Cannot do any shopping | 0 | |
Preparing food | Plans, prepares, and serves adequate meals without help | 1 |
If given the ingredients, prepares adequate meals | 0 | |
Heat and serves prepared meals or prepares meals but ones that are nutritionally inadequate | 0 | |
Needs someone to prepare and serve meals | 0 | |
Doing household tasks | Does household tasks without help or occasionally with help for physically demanding tasks (eg, washing windows) | 1 |
Does light housework (eg, dish washing, dusting) | 1 | |
Does light housework but does not keep the house adequately clean | 1 | |
Needs help with all household tasks | 1 | |
Does not do any household tasks | 0 | |
Doing laundry | Does laundry without help | 1 |
Washes small items (eg, stockings) | 1 | |
Needs someone to do all laundry | 0 | |
Traveling other than by walking | Uses public transportation without help or drives a car | 1 |
Calls for taxis but does not use other public transportation | 1 | |
Uses public transportation if accompanied by someone to help | 1 | |
Travels only by taxi or car and only if helped by someone | 0 | |
Does not travel | 0 | |
Taking prescription medications as directed | Takes the correct doses of prescribed medications at the correct time without help | 1 |
Takes prescribed medications if they are prepared in advance in separate dosage | 0 | |
Cannot dispense the prescribed medications | 0 | |
Managing money | Manages finances (eg, making a budget, writing checks, paying rent, keeping track of income) without help | 1 |
Buys small items needed on a daily basis but requires help with banking and major purchases | 1 | |
Cannot manage money | 0 | |
* People are asked to choose the description that most closely matches their highest functional level. Tasks are scored as either 1 (if they can do a task) or 0 (if they cannot). | ||
A summary score ranges from 0 (low function, dependent) to 8 (high function, independent) for women and 0 to 5 for men. The score identifies areas of need in regard to care and support. | ||
Adapted from Lawton MP, Brody EM: Assessment of older people: Self-maintaining and instrumental activities of daily living. Gerontologist 9 (3):179–186, 1969. | ||