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Biomedical subjects

M Chamie

Publications and source records attributed to M Chamie.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

What does morbidity have to do with disability?

This study compares and contrasts survey data on disablement from six countries according to their distributions and prevalence of causes and underlying medical conditions, using a framework proposed by the author that includes morbidity as one important determinant of disablement. The main thesis of this paper is that the study of disablement (that is impairments, disabilities and handicaps) should be conceptualized and classified independently of illness and poor health. Disablement, by definition, is not an illness. Using the World Health Organization global definitions of health it is possible to be both healthy and disabled. The assertion, however, that disability is not an illness does not preclude the joint study of morbidity and disablement; nor does it diminish the significance of disease and injury in the explanation of rates of disablement. Disablement is classified through the use of the WHO International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities, and Handicaps (ICIDH). The WHO International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10) is the primary classification used for the study of morbidity. This paper demonstrates that statistical guidelines and instructions on the use of the ICD and the ICIDH, including the development of appropriate short-listings of codes, are needed in order to increase data comparability and to further encourage sound research. National survey data examined are from the United Nations International Disability Statistics Data Base, DISTAT.

Data Collection↗
PubMed1990

The status and use of the International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities and Handicaps (ICIDH).

International monitoring of the ICIDH has begun in earnest. The momentum from these new activities and organizations has worked towards the unification and harmonization of statistics and information devoted to the study of disablement, further enhancing the interdisciplinary nature of the study of disability and advancing its recognition both at the national and international level. This article introduces the reader to the definitions and concepts of the ICIDH. In addition, problems confronted when applying the ICIDH in policy formulation, programme implementation and evaluation and in research are reviewed. There are three main types of problem: (i) the difficulty in differentiating each of the concepts of impairment, disability and handicap at the operational level of human function and behaviour; (ii) the diversity of training and instructions required in order to orchestrate the use of the codes and classification schemes with persons having a wide range of expertise and analytical interests; and (iii) the need for consistency of use of the ICIDH for model-building and testing of different theoretical frameworks. Increased institutional development at the global level through the establishment of international networks, and regional and interregional programmes, have further clarified strengths and weaknesses of the ICIDH and have increased support of its use. These efforts suggest the increasing importance of the ICIDH for the future development of international statistical standards and recommendations in the field of disablement.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1989

Survey design strategies for the study of disability.

This article examines international statistical guidelines and recommendations relevant to the collection and analysis of disability data in population census, household survey and civil registration programmes. It also gives examples of survey design methods and their influence on findings of disability surveys. These examples are taken from the results of population censuses, household surveys and registration systems of 55 countries, as compiled in the United Nations Disability Statistics Data Base (DISTAT, 1988). Comparisons of crude disability rates, defined as the percentage of the total population that is disabled, indicate considerable variation in the rates both within and across the major data-collection types. Cross-national variations in disability rates are not only due to actual differences in disability rates, but are also the result of differences in survey design, the statistical concepts and definitions and the survey screening devices used. This article provides the reader with specific examples of screening devices tried and topics covered in survey programmes, and reviews the potential for using the ICIDH as one way of standardizing survey results. Short lists of impairments and disabilities for survey research are proposed. Survey implementation of the study of handicap is also discussed, and a list of possible survey topics for the study of handicap is outlined.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The costs and benefits of government expenditures for family planning programs.

In 1979, federal and state governments spent a total of $285 million to finance family planning clinic services in the United States. As a result, about 695,000 pregnancies (239,000 births, 370,000 abortions and 86,000 miscarriages) were averted among low- and marginal-income patients; and at least $570 million was saved in government expenditures during the following year for childbirth, postnatal and pediatric care, abortions and welfare payments that would have been required in the absence of the clinic services. In other words, for every dollar spent by the government on family planning clinic services in 1979, about two dollars were saved in public-sector expenditures for health and welfare services to women and their babies during the next year. The first-year benefits were especially high for teenagers--about three dollars saved for every government dollar expended. Although teenagers accounted for only one-third of the clinic patients served in 1979, nearly half of the government savings can be attributed to family planning clinic services to women in their teens. Costs were greater than savings for patients aged 30 and older, but these older patients represent only 12 percent of the clinic patient population.

Abortion, Induced↗