Siobhán Carey
Assistant Director General, Social and Demographic Statistics
Central Statistics Office
23rd October 2008
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2006 Census included questions on disability
The National Disability Survey - a Census follow-up
Collaborative effort - Consultative Group
16,000 people interviewed
9 types of disability
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broader than in census
thresholds of severity
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Seeing
Hearing
Speech
Mobility and dexterity
Remembering and concentrating
Intellectual and learning
Emotional, psychological and mental health
Pain
Breathing
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Level of difficulty in every day activities
Disability type
No difficulty
Just a little
A moderate
level
A lot of
difficulty
Cannot do at
all
A.
Seeing
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B.
Hearing
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C.
Speech
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D.
Mobility & dexterity
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E.
Remembering &
concentrating
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F.
Intellectual & learning
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G.
Emotional,
psychological, & mental
health
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H.
Pain
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I.
Breathing
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 Profile of people with a disability
 Profile of people with each disability type
 Illustrative population groups
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People aged 75 and over with a disability
Children with a disability
People with disabilities living in nursing homes, hospitals
and children’s homes
 Prevalence of disability in population as a whole
 Questions
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 52% female and 48% male
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Intellectual & learning (61% males)
Speech (54% males)
 22% aged 75 and over (but only 5% of population)
 11% are children – aged 0-17 (25% of population)
 8% are resident in nursing homes, hospitals or
children’s homes
 92% resident in private household
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 Most commonly reported disabilities
Mobility & dexterity – 56%
• Pain – 47%
• Remembering & concentrating – 35%
• Emotional psychological & mental health – 34%
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 Severity of disability
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“Cannot do at all” – 24%
“A lot of difficulty” – 43%
“Moderate” or lower – 33%
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% of persons with a disability
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Seeing
Hearing
Speech
Mobility &
dexterity
Remembering &
concentrating
Intellectual
&
learning
Emotional,
psychological &
mental health
Pain
Breathing
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 58% female, 42% male
 36% of all persons with a Seeing disability are aged 75
and over
 40% reported a lot of difficulty and 5% were unable to
see at all
 Older people more severe difficulty
 Relatively small numbers of children (5%)
 1 in 10 had disability from birth (11%)
 Cause of seeing disability
Two-fifths reported “Disease or illness” as main cause of their
disability
• Just under one in five reported a hereditary or genetic
condition
• The illness most commonly reported by persons with a Seeing
disability was cataracts at 14%
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Equal proportions of males & females
38% aged 75 and over
36% reported a lot of difficulty and 3% could not hear at all
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Age of onset
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11% had their disability from birth
11% acquired their disability before the age of 18
40% acquired their disability after the age of 55
1 in 5 reported a disease or illness as the cause of their disability
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Older age groups had higher levels of difficulty
15% reported a hereditary or genetic condition
12% reported work conditions
Most commonly used aids
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Hearing aids without T-switch – 23%
Mobile phones for texting – 22%
Hearing aids with T-switch – 18%
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54% male, 46% female
Almost half were aged under 35
A third reported a lot of difficulty being understood and a fifth (18%)
reported that their speech could not be understood by others at all
Little variation in severity by age group
Over 60% had their disability since childhood
36% reported a disease or illness as the main cause of their disability
1 in 5 five reported a hereditary or genetic condition
Specific illnesses
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Autistic Spectrum Disorders - 7%
Deafness – 6%
Cerebral Palsy - 6%
Speech and language therapy -most commonly used and needed aid
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28% using
17% needing and not having
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57% female, 43% male
A third aged 75 and over, just 4% aged 0-17
34% “A lot of difficulty”
35% - “Cannot do at all”
Older people reported higher levels of difficulty
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half of those aged 75 and over reported “Cannot do at all”
 37% cannot “Walk for about 15 minutes”
 Age of onset
13% acquired their disability in childhood or from birth,
• 15% since age of 75 or over
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 45% reported a disease or illness as the cause of their
disability , one in six reported an accident, injury or fall
 Arthritis most commonly reported illness – 24%
 Most commonly used aids
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Walking aids (45%)
Grab bars (35%)
Physiotherapy (31%)
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10% needed a lift or stair lift
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 51% female, 49% male
 39% “A lot of difficulty” and 13% “Cannot do at all”
 A quarter were aged 75 and over - higher levels of
difficulty
 Of those aged 0-17 with a Remembering and
concentrating disability
87% reported difficulty with “Concentrating for 10 minutes
• Two-thirds had difficulty “Remembering to do important
things”
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 Among those aged 75 and over
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90% had difficulties due to forgetting where they had put
things
80% had difficulty remembering to do important things
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 14% had their disability from birth
 One-third reported that their disability was caused by
a disease or illness,
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about 10% reported a hereditary or genetic condition
9% stress
 Alzheimer’s disease or dementia reported by 9%
 Medication used by about 25%
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 61% male, 39% female
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highest proportion of males of all nine disability types
 Predominantly young – 38% aged 0-17, 25% aged
18-34
 35% “A lot of difficulty”, 12% “Cannot do at all”
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17% - “Just a little difficulty”, 36% “Moderate”,
 70% diagnosed with Intellectual disability
 77% had difficulty with Learning everyday skills
 Almost 80% had their disability from childhood
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 One-third reported a disease or illness caused their
disability,
 A quarter reported as caused by a hereditary or
genetic condition
 Dyslexia or Specific Learning Difficulties reported by
17%
 5% cited Autistic Spectrum Disorder as cause
 Most commonly used aids
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Additional special teaching - 28%
Psychology service - 27%
Occupational therapy - 23%
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53% female, 47% male
Two-thirds of people were of working age (18-64)
32% “A lot of difficulty”, 4% “Cannot do at all”
23% “Just a little”, 42% “Moderate”,
Age of onset
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23% began to be affected by their disability between the
ages of 18 and 34,
11% had been affected from birth
almost 18% between the ages of 0-17
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40% reported a disease or illness as the cause
18% cited stress as the cause
Depression was the most frequently reported illness at 28%
Anxiety disorders were reported by 11%
90% used at least one aid
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highest proportion reporting use of aids for any of the nine disability
types
Medical services (77%) and medication (69%)
Psychiatrist (32%)
Exercise or relaxation therapies (29%)
Counselling (25%)
 Persons reporting higher levels of difficulty also reported
greater frequency of occurrence of their disability
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 57% female, 43% male
 48% “A lot of difficulty” , 3% “Cannot do at
all”
 23% were aged 75 and over 22% were aged
55-64, and just 2% were aged 0-17 age
 Age of onset
1 in 12 reported that their disability began before
the age of 17
• between 14% and 17% reported that their disability
began in the different age groups between 18-64
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 Just under half of people reported that their
disability was caused by a disease or illness,
 1 in 5 reported an accident, injury or fall
 Arthritis was the most commonly cited illness
at 34%
 Just over two-thirds used at least one aid
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Pain management -most frequently used aid at
48%
 The majority of those reporting the higher
levels of severity of difficulty due to pain also
reported that their disability was present most
or all of the time
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 51% female, 49% male
 almost a quarter aged 75 and over
 35% reported “A lot of difficulty” in everyday
activities , 2% “Cannot do at all”
 Younger people generally had lower levels of
severity
 One in five people had been affected since
childhood and almost one in ten had their
disability from birth
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 Around 60% reported that it was caused by a
disease or illness
 Asthma was the most frequently reported
illness at 31% followed by cardiovascular
disease at 16%
 More than half used at least one aid
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Most commonly used - nebulisers 42%
 Over 60% of those reporting the higher levels
of severity also reported that their Breathing
disability affected them most or all of the time
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 62% in communal establishments are female (51%
in private households)
 62% aged 75 and over (19% in private households)
 63% reported highest level of severity (21% for private
households)
 76% reported a Mobility & dexterity disability
 61% reported a Remembering & concentrating
disability
 Higher levels of multiple disability
average of 3.3 disabilities per person
• 2.5 for persons in private households
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36% of people with a disability were aged 65 and over (36%)
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83% of those aged 75 and over with a disability reported a Mobility &
dexterity disability
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94% of these had difficulty walking for about 15 minutes
80% had difficulty going outside of home
65% had difficulty moving around their home
48% had a Pain disability
39% had a Remembering & concentrating disability
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1 in 5 people with a disability were aged 75 and over (22%)
90% of these had difficulty due to forgetting where they had put things
81% had difficulty remembering to do important things
75 & over age group accounted for
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38% of those with a Hearing disability
36% of those with a Seeing disability
33% of those with Mobility & dexterity disability
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11% of all persons with a disability were aged 0-17
75% had an Intellectual & learning disability
50% had a Remembering & concentrating disability
28% had an Emotional, psychological & mental health
disability
 28% had a Speech disability
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Children accounted for
 38% of all those with Intellectual and learning difficulties
 29% of all those with Speech difficulties
 16% of all those with Remembering and concentrating
difficulties
 They represented very small proportions within the
other six disabilities
• Pain (2%), Mobility & dexterity (4%), Seeing (5%)
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Census of Population - 93 persons per thousand
NDS used a broader spectrum (Breathing, Pain)
Introduced concept of severity
Dedicated disability survey
 NDS total population estimate including broader
spectrum – indicative level 185 persons per
thousand
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100
Census disability sample
Total population
80
86
83
60
40
20
0
13
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1424
9 13
48
46
45
28
18
31
27
40
38
18
34
1000
900
Census disability sample
800
Total population
660
700
600
500
395
400
300
300
200
100
377
210
164
110
83
35
38
0-17
18-34
59
86
35-44
45-54
135
181
0
55-64
65-74
75 & over
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Level of difficulty
Census Disability sample
Total populations
%
%
Just a little
2
3
Moderate level
31
44
A lot of difficulty
43
38
Cannot do at all
24
15
Total
100
100
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 Focus on people with a disability
 Able to describe the characteristics of people with
different disabilities
 Further report on participation, care arrangements,
employment, transport, environmental factors
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