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How many people use home accessibility features?
There are over 7.1 million persons using home accessibility features in the United States. The most common features are hand rails (3.4 million people), ramps (2.1 million), extra wide doors (1.7 million), other home accessibility features (1.6 million), and raised toilets (1.3 million). (Other features include adapted door locks, lowered counters, and slip-resistant floors.) Unlike assistive devices, most home accessibility features do not show much increase with older populations, fluctuating between 1.4 million for those 24 and under to 1.7 million for those 75 and over.
Hand rails, the most common home accessibility feature, is one of the only features that are used increasingly with age.
Graphic: Line chart.
Source: LaPlante, et al., 1992
Survey: NHIS, 1990