activities of daily living
Routine self-care tasks—such as bathing, dressing, feeding, and toileting—used as benchmarks for measuring a patient's functional rehabilitation progress.
Full Definition
Activities of daily living (ADLs) are the fundamental self-maintenance tasks that rehabilitation clinicians use to evaluate a patient's functional capacity and track recovery. They are conventionally divided into basic ADLs (BADLs), which include personal hygiene, dressing, eating, and mobility, and instrumental ADLs (IADLs), which encompass higher-order tasks such as cooking, financial management, and using transportation. In clinical rehabilitation documents, 'activities of daily living' is written in lower case unless it opens a sentence or forms part of a formal scale name. Editors should verify whether a document refers to BADLs or IADLs, as conflating the two categories is a common editorial error.
Usage
Usage note: Lower-case throughout. Abbreviate as ADLs (plural) or ADL (singular/modifier). Distinguish from IADLs when the document context requires precision.
In Context
- "The occupational therapist assessed the patient's ability to perform activities of daily living independently before discharge." — Occupational therapy discharge summary
- "Deficits in ADLs were the primary driver for continued inpatient rehabilitation." — Multidisciplinary team meeting note