Comments on Measuring Disability in an International Context Barbara M. Altman, Ph.D. Disability Statistics Consultant

Measuring Disability Prevalence - Contributions Definition of Disability in context of ICF Elaboration of the variety of measures in use Explanation of the variety of purposes for disability data collection and how those purposes dictate how questions are structured (i.e. what is measured). Case study examples Conclusions - Box 4

Measuring Disability Prevalence – Further Suggestions Language consistency Body Functions Activities/deliberate actions/basic actions/basic core activities Use of the Eide & Loeb and WHO work Example of questions Range of activities Comparability of answer categories Mild/moderate/severe;none/some/a lot/unable

The Case of Uzbekistan - Contributions Poverty-Disability relationship key research question Introduction of administrative definition for comparison purposes Interpretation and translation of disability questions Robustness of measures

The Case of Uzbekitan - Suggestions Measure of poverty and the interaction effect of age. Consistency of responses across measures Actual requirements to qualify as “officially” disabled and does this differ by region. Scoring of Activity of Daily Living measure

Washington Group Extended Measures Papers reflect challenges with very basic measures. A more extended set of measures presents a much larger set of challenges: Do we want to focus on a particular aspect of disability activity or participation or do we want a mixture of questions? How best to assure cultural comparability when moving into more complicated participation issues? Do we want to create our own questions or start with questions already in use, particularly in developed countries?

Agenda for the Dublin Meeting Identify the focus of an extended question set or sets. Agree on the number of extended sets to be considered. Prioritize the development of extended sets. Develop source of questions or chose to create our own.

Number and Focus of Extended Question Sets Identify the number and focus of extended question sets from among many possibilities. Expand on areas of functioning to supplement those captured by Census questions. Expand in depth on those questions asked in the Census set Develop a set to cover all the domains identified by the ICF Develop a set to represent the environmental aspects

Develop Sources for Questions World Bank Money is used up, potential for more funds not appearing promising. Other entities are working on extended question sets including: Eurostat; Euroreves; Budapest Initiative; Australian Bureau of Statistics; UNESCAP Secretariat has lost most of its staff, work voluntary from member statistical organizations

Work Group Activity Developing a position paper to address these issues. Strong discussions on measuring participation and the cross-cultural difficulties. Additional elements under discussion to include in extended set, such as age at onset, number of questions to be included, how closely to reflect ICF, issues associated with measures for children, institutionalized population.