Disability trends in the United States population 1966-76: analysis of reported causes.

Abstract

According to data published by the United States National Center for Health Statistics, disability reported among the US population has increased substantially during the years 1966 to 1976. Among younger age groups, the increase in activity limitation involves visual and hearing impairments as well as asthma. In the middle age group (45-64), four causes increased in both sexes (diabetes, musculoskeletal disorders, hypertension, and diseases of the circulatory system other than hypertension and heart conditions); one cause affected men only (heart conditions) and one women only (malignant neoplasms). In the 65 and over age group, diabetes and circulatory diseases (excluding heart conditions and hypertension) increased significantly. Although the US population

Impairment in role functioning in mental and chronic medical disorders in the United States: results from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication

“…Chronic conditions have long been known to be an important cause of disability, 1,2 and disability, in turn, is an important contributor to both the clinical and financial burden of chronic conditions. 3,4 Recent years have seen trends toward rising rates of disability in working-aged populations in the United States, which appear to be due to a combination of increasing prevalence of chronic illnesses and growing impairment among persons with those conditions.…”

Disability among female garment workers. A comparison with a national sample.

“…The chosen disability indicator has had useful applications both as a single measure (18,19) and as a 326 component of an index of life expectancy free of disability (15,20,21). The latter-mentioned index combines mortality and disability data and is expressed as the average number of years a cohort may hope to live without disability.…”

Disability Status as an Unobservable: Estimates From a Structural Model

“…The results of Colvez and Blanchet (1981), indicating the inverse movement over time of mortality rates and the incidence of handicaps and impairments of a wide variety of types cast further doubt on the appropriateness of this indicator in studies of individual behavior. The puzzle is made even more complicated by the findings of recent studies indicating that Individual self-reports of health are stable over time, highly correlated with medical doctor reports, and show no evidence of exaggeration of problems related to being out of the work force (see Maddox and Douglass, 1973;Waldron, Rerold, and Dunn, 1982;Ferraro, 1980 andMossey andShapiro, 1982 On the other hand, the demand for health increases with the wage rate.…”