A hierarchical scale comprising 18 activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) items was tested on a sample of 101 noninstitutionalized people of 60 years and older in a northern part of the Netherlands. Three possible answers per item were used. The results confirmed the possibility of constructing a unidimensional, hierarchical, polychotomous scale for older people, measuring "functional problems on ADL-IADL." Moreover, the possibility of using two separate subscales (for ADL and IADL) was observed.