Abstract: Objective By analyzing the status and rehabilitation demands of disabled elderly persons in China,this study intends to give suggestions to strengthen rehabilitation service and resolve the rehabilitation problems of disabled elderly persons.Methods Descriptive and comparative analyses were conducted to analyze the characteristics of the disabled elderly in China,the main factors leading to disability,and the differences between supply and demand of rehabilitation according to the data of the 2006 National Sample Survey on Disability.Results The number of female elderly people with disabilities was higher than that of the male,and the proportion of disability increased with ages.More than three quarters of disabled elderly persons lived in rural areas.Hearing disability,physical disability and visual disability were the main types of disability,which accounted for more than ninety percent.Among the factors leading to disability,disease was the most important one.The disabled elderly had different rehabilitation demands in terms of gender,age and types of disability.The main demands were medical services and supplementary instruments and trainings.However,most of the rehabilitation demands hadn't been met,especially those of the female and the oldest.Among the rehabilitation demands supplementary,instruments had the largest gap between its supply and demand,followed by the trainings and services of rehabilitation.Medical service and assistance could meet the demand to the largest extent,but only accounted for about fifty percent.Conclusion China needs to promote healthy ageing,prevent diseases,reform the expenditure of personal and public finance,and at the same time,pay more attention to the construction of medical personnel in order to meet the demands of rehabilitation of disabled elderly persons.

Key words: disabled elderly, disability status, rehabilitation demands