The care of the disabled elderly has become a key issue of adaptive aging in China as the country has fully evolved into an aging society. How to correctly understand and evaluate disability forms the basis of establishing a service system for the long-term care needs of the elderly in China and is also the focus of gerontology and social attention. This paper reviews the concept of disability, disability assessment tools in China and abroad, and the status quo of research on disability assessment in China, with a view to provid-ing a reference for future disability studies.