Table 1 Characteristics of both versions of the Model Disability Survey
From: Rethinking Disability
MDS Stand-alone Version | MDS Brief version | |
|---|---|---|
Goal | National or regional implementations as a dedicated standalone disability survey | Integration in existing household surveys as a disability module |
Implementation | every 5 to 10 years | flexible, continuous |
Developed in | 2012 | 2016 |
Length in time | 60-120 minutes | 10-15 minutes |
Core modules: | ||
Environmental factors | This module contains a broad inventory of questions about: - Hindering or facilitating aspects of the general environment - Use and need for personal assistance - Family and social support - Attitudes of others - Accessibility to information - Regular use of medication - Use and need for assistive devices for self-care, mobility, cognition, seeing and hearing - Presence and need of modifications at home, school, work and community. | Contains 13 questions about: - Hindering or facilitating aspects of the general environment - Use and need for personal assistance - Family and social support - Attitudes of others - Use and need for assistive devices. |
Functioning | The module includes 47 questions covering the actual performance of tasks and actions in day-to-day life in the following 17 functioning domains: mobility, hand and arm use, self-care, seeing, hearing, pain, sleep and energy, breathing, affect, interpersonal relationships, handling stress, communication, cognition, household tasks, community and citizenship participation, caring for others and work and schooling. All questions target performance considering health conditions and the physical, social, attitudinal and political environment of the person. | Contain 12 questions of the standalone version, selected for their ability to generate individual disability scores comparable to the ones generated with the standalone version. |
Health conditions and capacity | Altogether 17 questions target the intrinsic capacity of a person, determined solely by health conditions, in the same 17 domains covered in the functioning module. Additionally, a self-report part about the presence of health conditions and impairments is included. If a respondent endorses a health condition, three questions follow: 1) whether any health professional has ever diagnosed it; 2) whether the person has been given any medication in the last 12 months; and 3) whether the person has been given any other kind of treatment, beyond medicines, in the last 12 months. | Contain 12 questions of the standalone version, selected for their ability to generate individual capacity scores comparable to the ones generated with the standalone version. |