1. Global Measures of Disability:Statistics Canada’s experience so far... Renée Langlois Survey Manager, Participation and Activity Limitation Survey, Statistics Canada

2. Outline • New strategy in Statistics Canada to measure disability • Objectives of global indicators • Desired criteria of disability indicator • Development process used in STC • Selected indicator • Relationship to ICF • Next steps

3. 2001 Strategy • 1986 and 1991: filter questions on census • post-censal disability surveys used a sample of false-negative respondents • for 2001 and beyond: • use improved filter questions • use common disability indicators in all surveys

4. Objectives of global indicators • Describe: to provide broad information on a specific characteristic in the population • Screen (or filter): to identify the population of interest for a follow-up survey

5. Desired Criteria of Disability Indicator • Reference to long-term conditions • Applicability to entire population • Brevity • Clarity of language • Intuitiveness to respondents • Inclusiveness (all severity levels)

6. Global Disability Indicator: development process • Two-phase research project: • Qualitative testing • Quantitative testing

7. Qualitative Research • linguistic analysis of “old” filter questions • development of alternatives • testing “old” against “new” questions in terms of correlation with 1991 HALS screening questions

8. Results of Qualitative Research • Main causes of non-reporting: • negative vocabulary: • long-term • disabilities • handicaps • “is this person limited” • restrictive answer categories

9. Quantitative Evaluation • 1998 National Census Test: • approximately 35,000 households • PALS 2001 pilot test, fall 2000: • 14,000 individuals • PALS 2001, fall 2001: • 43,000 individuals (adults, children)

10. Selected indicator 1. Does this person have any difficulty hearing, seeing, communicating, walking, climbing stairs, bending, learning or doing any similar activities? • Answer categories: • Yes, sometimes • Yes, often • No

11. Selected indicator (cont’d) 2. Does a physical condition or mental condition or health problem reduce the amount or the kind of activity this person can do: • At home? • At work or at school? • In other activities, for example, transportation or leisure?

12. Selected indicator (end) • Answer categories: • Yes, sometimes • Yes, often • No

13. Relationship to ICF • focus on activity limitation and participation restriction • “difficulty”: covers quality, quantity, time and assistance required • assistance: confounding issue • environment: multiple-item response scale • applicability to children: more research

14. Next Steps • Upcoming sources of analysis: • 2001 census: 6,000,000 records • 2001 PALS: 43,000 records • 2000 Canadian Community Health Survey: 130,000 records • Aboriginal Peoples Survey: 120,000 records

15. Next Steps (end) • Research on possible effect of data collection mode • Research on applicability to children