Survey Finds 48 Million Americans Disabled

About 1 in 5 U.S. adults is disabled, a new study has found. The most common cause was arthritis. Government researchers used data from a survey done in 2005. They found that about 48 million Americans are disabled. That’s up from 45 million in 1999. This change was caused mainly by an increase in the number of older adults. In the 2005 survey, about 8.6 million people were disabled with arthritis. Another 7.6 million had back or spine problems. Heart disease disabled 3 million. The study was published April 30. It appeared in the journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.