Child disabilities Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys- MICS3 Analysis and Report Writing Workshop Panama City, July 12-20, 2006

Indicators Percentage of children 2-9 years of age with at least one of the reported disabilities

Goals World Fit for Children (WFFC) Protecting children against abuse, exploitation and violence and under general protection to Adopt special measures to eliminate discrimination against children on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status and ensure their equal access to education, health and basic social services Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) The MD declaration calls for the protection of children against abuse, exploitation and violence but no goal, target or indicator is included

Why to measure childrens disabilities? Reasons: Identify the magnitude of the problem as well as its characteristics Evaluate impact of programs and interventions based on trends

Child disabilities Numerator: Percentage of children 2-9 years of age with at least one of the reported impairments: (1)delay in sitting, standing or walking, (2)difficulty seeing, either in the daytime or at night, (3)appears to have difficulty hearing, (4)difficulty in understanding instructions, (5)difficulty walking or moving arms or has weakness or stiffness of limbs, (6)has fits, becomes rigid, loses consciousness, (7)does not learn to do things like other children his/her age, (8)cannot speak or cannot be understood in words, (9)appears mentally backward, dull or slow. Denominator: Total number of children 2-9 years of age surveyed

Data sources/methods Administrative records Population census Household surveys

Which countries included this module in MICS3? 6 out of 7 Belize, Jamaica, and Suriname Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago did not Mongolia?

SPSS Program Generates basic table: CP.10 Generates –the percentage of children 2-9 years of age with at least one disability –The percentage of disable children by type of impairment

Methodological issues Screens for children identified as experiencing disability/impairment Based on WHO International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, 2001 Adapt to country conditions and language

Methodological issues In WHO framework, childs functioning is an interaction/relationship between health condition and contextual factors The MICS3 measurement of disability looks specifically at activity limitations and participation restrictions Need to compare with contextual factors (age, gender, ethnicity, health, school attendance, etc.) Analysis should explore associations between existing impairments in participating in childrens activities and contextual factors.

Methodological issues Module was implemented in 25 countries in MICS2 with little analysis Recommendation was to follow screening with a physical examination of children to identify false positives and false negatives We agreed that when including the module, interviewers must be properly trained, data must be cleaned, appropriate tabulations produced, and there must be adequate analysis and presentation of results.

Thanks!