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

Carla Sabariego, Cornelia Oberhauser, Aleksandra Posarac, Jerome Bickenbach, Nenad Kostanjsek, Somnath Chatterji, Alana Officer, Michaela Coenen, Lay Chhan and Alarcos Cieza
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Carla Sabariego: Chair of Public Health and Health Services Research, Department of Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology—IBE, Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU), Munich 81377, Germany
Cornelia Oberhauser: Chair of Public Health and Health Services Research, Department of Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology—IBE, Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU), Munich 81377, Germany
Aleksandra Posarac: Social Protection and Labor, Human Development Network, The World Bank, Washington, DC 20433, USA
Jerome Bickenbach: Swiss Paraplegic Research, Nottwil 6207, Switzerland
Nenad Kostanjsek: Classification, Terminology and Standards, Department of Health Statistics and Informatics, World Health Organization, Geneva 1211, Switzerland
Somnath Chatterji: Department of Health Statistics and Information Systems, World Health Organization, Geneva 1211, Switzerland
Alana Officer: Ageing and Life Course Unit, World Health Organization, Geneva 1211, Switzerland
Michaela Coenen: Chair of Public Health and Health Services Research, Department of Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology—IBE, Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU), Munich 81377, Germany
Lay Chhan: National Institute of Statistics, Phnom Penh 12301, Cambodia
Alarcos Cieza: Blindness and Deafness Prevention, Disability and Rehabilitation (BDD), World Health Organization, Geneva 1211, Switzerland

IJERPH, 2015, vol. 12, issue 9, 1-23

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: disability evaluation; International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health; data collection; health surveys; disability surveys; screeners (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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