N C H S - Washington City Group on Disability Statistics

General Disability Measures in Developing Countries: Relationship Purpose of Measurement, Margaret Mbogoni

General Disability Measures Used in Developed Countries: Question Characteristics, Elizabeth Rasch

General Measure on People with Disabilities in the European Statistical System (ESS), Elena de Palma

Viewing Measures via the Matrix: Do We Have What We Need?, Barbara Altman, Jennifer Madans

General Measures of Health for Use in Health Interview Surveys and Censuses: the UK Experience, Howard Meltzer

Implementation of MEHM-items in HIS in Denmark (MEHM=Minimum European Health Module), Niels Rasmussen

Trends in the Prevalence of Disability and Chronic Conditions: Implications for Survey Design and Measurement of Disability, Xingyan Wen

The OECD Experience in Using Survey-Based Disability Data: An Illustration of Current Possibilities and Limitations, Gaétan Lafortune

Questions on Disabilities Raised in the Last Census in St. Lucia, Ethel Jn. Baptiste

Brazil’s Experience Using the Census, Renée Langlois on behalf of Alicia Bercovich

Canadian Valuation of Health States: Protocol for Selecting Health State Attibutes, Jean-Marie Berthelot

Results from the Canadian 2001 Census and Post-Censal Disability Survey, Renée Langlois, Éric Langlet

Measurement in Existing Surveys /Participation and Environmental factors, Marijke de Klein de Vankrijke

General Disability Measurement in Uganda – Focusing on Improvement in Methodology and Concepts Used, Pamela Nabukhonzo

Question Matrix
One of the first products of the first meeting of the Washington Group was the development of a matrix that cross-classifies the purpose that a general disability measure is supposed to address (i.e., the use that the data will be put to) with a typology of question characteristics which address concepts such as domain, severity, etiology and duration. The cells of the conceptual version of the matrix describe the information on each of the question characteristics that is needed to satisfy each of the specific purposes. In addition, an empirical version of the matrix is being developed that evaluates the characteristics of the general measures currently in use according to the dimensions of the matrix. These two matrices, which detail what we need to measure to fulfill purposes as well as what we have measured with existing general indicators, are intended to help us identify the gaps that exist in disability measurement. They will also help to direct our future work in developing internationally comparable general measures of disability. Work on both the conceptual and empirical matrix is currently underway by a team with members from Italy, the United Nations, and the United States. Anyone interested in joining in this effort should contact Jennifer Madans, National Center for Health Statistics, JMadans@cdc.gov.

Results of Testing General Disability Measures
Several countries have undertaken research in the area of general disability measures and presented plans or preliminary results at the first meeting. Some developing countries expressed interest in adopting models being proposed by other countries. The second group meeting will provide an opportunity for countries with results from recent censuses or sample based surveys to present their analyses and recommendations to the group. Countries who currently have plans to test such measures would also have an opportunity to share them with other members. Plans for further testing (for instance, in developing countries ) could be developed as a result of this exchange of information.