Measuring Disability : Comparing the Impact of Two Data Collection Approaches on Disability Rates

Sabariego, Carla ; Oberhauser, Cornelia ; Posarac, Aleksandra ; Bickenbach, Jerome ; Kostanjsek, Nenad ; Chatterji, Somnath ; Officer, Alana ; Coenen, Michaela ; Chhan, Lay ; Cieza, Alarcos

MDPI

关键词: disability evaluation;    health surveys;    disability surveys;    screeners;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijerph120910329
RP-ID  :  102468

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

The usual approach in disability surveys is to screen persons with disability upfront and then ask questions about everyday problems. The objectives of this paper are to demonstrate the impact of screeners on disability rates, to challenge the usual exclusion of persons with mild and moderate disability from disability surveys and to demonstrate the advantage of using an a posteriori cut-off. Using data of a pilot study of the WHO Model Disability Survey (MDS) in Cambodia and the polytomous Rasch model, metric scales of disability were built. The conventional screener approach based on the short disability module of the Washington City Group and the a posteriori cut-off method described in the World Disability Report were compared regarding disability rates. The screener led to imprecise rates and classified persons with mild to moderate disability as non-disabled, although these respondents already experienced important problems in daily life. The a posteriori cut-off applied to the general population sample led to a more precise disability rate and allowed for a differentiation of the performance and needs of persons with mild, moderate and severe disability. This approach can be therefore considered as an inclusive approach suitable to monitor the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.