Background From the 2011 Palestinian Center Bureau of Statistics, disability is defined as long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairment that can hinder full and effective participation in society; disability among elderly people has become a major public health concern in recent years. More than 1 billion people live with disability worldwide. In the occupied Palestinian territory, disability in elderly people is still not well understood. This study aims to assess the prevalence of disability among Palestinians aged 50 years or older and associated factors. Methods Data were obtained from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics Disability-Survey of 2011, representing the Palestinian population. People aged 50 years or older were selected. We gathered descriptive statistics and used multivariate binary logistic regression to check for confounders. Data were analysed with SPSS17 software. Findings The total sample size was 8747 people aged 50 years or older. 71% of those had no disability and the remaining 29% reportedly had at least one disability, of which 53% represented problems with mobility, 26% vision, 11% hearing, 7% memory, 1% mental health, 1% communication, and 1% intellectual. Men were less likely to be disabled than women (odds ratio [OR] 0•75, 95% CI 0•64-0•89, p=0•001). The level of disability increased at age 70 and older (OR 1•96, 95% CI 1•67-2•31). The percentage of disabled elderly people increased among those who could not read compared with those educated (OR 2•93, 95% CI 2•36-3•63); decreased in those with large families compared with families of fewer than three people (for families of three to six people, OR 0•73, 95% CI 0•63-0•84; for families of seven to 27 people, 0•59, 0•50-0•70); increased in refugees compared with non-refugees (OR 1•26, 95% CI 1•07-1•47, p=0•005); increased in non-workers compared with workers (OR 2•96, 95% CI 2•50-3•49); and increased in those widowed and divorced compared with people who were married (OR 1•25, 95% CI 1•07-1•47, p=0•005). Compared with the centre of the West Bank, the number of people with disability was highest in the Gaza Strip (OR 2•23, 95% CI 1•89-2•63), followed by north West Bank (OR 2•60, 95% CI 2•22-3•05), and south West Bank (OR 1•95, 95% CI 1•63-2•33). Interpretation Disability is more prevalent in women, those not educated, refugees, non-workers, widowed and divorced individuals, and people in Gaza. Further investigations are needed to establish the main causes of disability in the occupied Palestinian territory, and associated factors. Funding None. Contributors JJBJ participated in the method, data analysis, interpretation, conclusion, writing, and overall work integration. NAYH participated in the introduction, data analysis, and in writing. LSAZ participated in data analysis. AA-MS participated in Abstract conclusion. RGh participated in data analysis, conclusion, and interpretation. RGi supervised all the work. All authors approved the final version of the Abstract for publication. Declaration of interests We d...

Background Wellbeing is influenced by several factors, including living conditions. In Palestine, area C communities are under administrative and security control and comprise about 60% of the West Bank. UN reports indicate that area C populations are considered most susceptible to expulsion (displacement from home and from land cultivated for livelihood) and sustenance interruption. This study aims to assess the relation between wellbeing in an area C community and associated factors. Methods We did a cross sectional survey with a systematic random sample of 426 adults representing half the households in this community, with a high response rate (96•9%). A questionnaire was designed following focus group discussions to highlight the particular context of the community, and included security and distress questions developed by the Institute of Community and Public Health (ICPH) and published internationally, and the WHO-5 wellbeing index with 50 as the cutoff point. Descriptive statistics followed by multivariate binary logistic regression to test for confounders were performed with SPSS 17. Ethics approval was obtained from ICPH's Research Ethics Committee. Findings 413 people were included: 200 men (48•4%) and 213 women (51•6%). 171 people (41•4%) reported moderate and high levels of wellbeing. There were no differences by sex and age. Lower wellbeing was associated with the presence of one or more older people at home compared with having no older people at home (odds ratio 0•467, 95% CI 0•221-0•987, p=0•046) and with having a crowded home (more than three members at home) compared with lower crowding (0•225, 0•084-0•603, p=0•003).Interpretation Our findings suggest that lowered wellbeing is present among families with higher crowding and with older people at home, and might be linked with poverty nd the need for high levels of care, high dependency, and low socioeconomic status). Crowding at home might be linked to the special conditions found in area C, where building permits are difficult to obtain. Further studies addressing life conditions in area C are recommended to investigate the effects of these factors on wellbeing.