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Abstract Empirical research elucidating the relationships between aspects of functional competence and environmental factors is lacking. This study aimed to analyse how functional limitations in the individual and housing accessibility problems influence ADL dependence in the elderly population, and to test Lawton's docility hypothesis. Data were collected from 133 Swedish subjects aged 75–84, who were living in the community. The main finding was that dependence in ADL correlated highly significantly with housing accessibility problems. The results also revealed significantly more ADL disability in the group of respondents in whom the heaviest environmental demands were identified, supporting the docility hypothesis. Although the study had limitations because the data required the use of non‐parametric statistics, so restricting possible interpretations of the effects of geriatric comorbidity, the results indicated that interventions such as housing adaptations ought to be most effective with frail individuals. To promote independence in the general population, society has to work towards more accessible housing. More research is needed considering more environmental dimensions and elderly people's subjective apprehension of their housing environment. Copyright © 1998 Whurr Publishers Ltd.
Iwarsson et al. (Sat,) studied this question.