Identifying the Population with Disability: The Approach of an INSEE Survey on Daily Life and Health
Jean-François Ravaud
Alain Letourmy
Isabelle Ville
It is very difficult to provide an estimate of the population with disability. For this reason, disability is considered here as a multi-faceted reality that has to be approached from numerous angles. This study is based on the survey “Vie quotidienne et santé” (VQS, Daily Life and Health) conducted by INSEE during the screening phase of the “Handicaps, incapacités, dépendance” (Disability, Functional Limitations, and Dependency) survey. The VQS survey, conducted in combination with the 1999 census, was based on a representative sample of 400,000 persons. It relied on several approaches to disability: functional limitation, need of assistance, restriction of activity, self-attribution of a disability, and official social recognition. First, we analysed the relations between the various approaches by studying the prevalence of disability estimated for each approach taken separately, and the overlap between the resulting sub-populations. Next, we examined the probability of self-attribution of a disability and its determinants by means of logistic regressions. Special attention was paid to the impact of sex and age. The article concludes with a discussion of the methodological contributions of the VQS survey.
Partiendo de la dificultad de estimar la población minusválida, este artículo aborda la discapacidad como una realidad multiforme a analizar desde varias perspectivas. El análisis se basa en la encuesta Vida cotidiana y Salud llevada a cabo por el INSEE en la fase de verificación de las encuestas Minusvalías, Discapacidades, Dependencia. Asociada al censo de población de 1999, la encuesta Vida Cotidiana y Salud está basada en una muestra representativa de 400,000 personas. La encuesta se basa en varias perspectivas de la minusvalía: discapacidades funcionales, necesidad de ayuda, limitación de la actividad, declaración de minusvalía y reconocimiento social oficial. En una primera fase, se analiza la existencia de una minusvalía a partir de cada una de estas perspectivas por separado, se observan los solapamientos y las sub-poblaciones específicas que estas perspectivas crean. En una segunda fase, se examina con mayor detalle la probabilidad de auto-atribución de una discapacidad y sus determinantes en base a regresiones logísticas, con atención especial a los efectos de sexo y edad. El artículo concluye con las lecciones metodológicas aprendidas a partir de la explotación de la Encuesta de Vida Cotidiana y Salud.
• Methodology of the survey
• The links between the different approaches to disability
— Disability prevalence, estimated for each approach taken separately
— Links between the populations defined by the different approaches: overlap and specific groups
— Non-equivalence of the different points of view
• Self-attribution of disability and its determining factors
— The effect of sex
— The effect of age
— The effect of variables linked to the available individual potential
— Disabled or elderly person: two competing “careers”
• Conclusion
• REFERENCES