What cut-off(s) to use with the Washington Group short set of questions?

Did high frequency phone surveys during the COVID-19 pandemic include disability questions? An assessment of COVID-19 surveys from March 2020 to December 2022

OBJECTIVES

In the midst of the pandemic, face-to-face data collection for national censuses and surveys was suspended due to limitations on mobility and social distancing, limiting the collection of already scarce disability data. Responses to these constraints were met with a surge of high-frequency phone surveys (HFPSs) that aimed to provide timely data for understanding the socioeconomic impacts of and responses to the pandemic. This paper provides an assessment of HFPS datasets and their inclusion of disability questions to evaluate the visibility of persons with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

DESIGN

We collected HFPS questionnaires conducted globally from the onset of the pandemic emergency in March 2020 until December 2022 from various online survey repositories. Each HFPS questionnaire was searched using a set of keywords for inclusion of different types of disability questions. Results were recorded in an Excel review log, which was manually reviewed by two researchers.

METHODS

The review of HFPS datasets involved two stages: (1) a main review of 294 HFPS dataset-waves and (2) a semiautomated review of the same dataset-waves using a search engine-powered questionnaire review tool developed by our team. The results from the main review were compared with those of a sensitivity analysis using and testing the tool as an alternative to manual search.

RESULTS

Roughly half of HFPS datasets reviewed and 60% of the countries included in this study had some type of question on disability. While disability questions were not widely absent from HFPS datasets, only 3% of HFPS datasets included functional difficulty questions that meet international standards. The search engine-powered questionnaire review tool proved to be able to streamline the search process for future research on inclusive data.

CONCLUSIONS

The dearth of functional difficulty questions and the Washington-Group Short Set in particular in HFPS has contributed to the relative invisibility of persons with disabilities during the pandemic emergency, the lingering effects of which could impede policy-making, monitoring and advocacy on behalf of persons with disabilities.

Pattern of contraceptive use among reproductive-aged women with disabilities in Bangladesh: Evidence from multiple indicator cluster survey 2019

BACKGROUND

Contraception is crucial for reproductive-aged women with disabilities, empowering them to manage reproductive choices and enhancing overall health, autonomy, and well-being.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to examine the usage patterns of contraceptive methods among reproductive-aged women with disabilities in Bangladesh.

METHODS

We analyzed data from 47,465 reproductive-aged women from the 2019 Bangladesh Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey. Outcome variables included contraceptive usage patterns, grouped into any contraceptive methods, any modern contraceptive methods, and any traditional contraceptive methods. The primary explanatory variable considered was disabilities level (women with no disabilities, women with moderate disabilities, and women with severe disabilities), along with types of disabilities. A multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression model was used to assess associations between outcomes and explanatory variables while accounting for confounding.

RESULTS

The prevalence of any contraceptive methods use was 66.4 %, declining to 54 % among women with severe disabilities. The odd of modern contraception use was 31 % lower (aOR, 0.69, 95 % CI, 0.65-0.73) among women with moderate disabilities and 47 % lower (aOR, 0.53, 95 % CI, 0.47-0.60) among those with severe disabilities, compared to women with no disabilities. Within the individual domains of disabilities, those with vision, walking, cognitive, and self-care-related disabilities reported lower odds of modern contraception uptake than those with no disabilities.

CONCLUSIONS

The study highlights that women with disabilities use contraceptives less often, increasing vulnerability to unintended and short interval pregnancies and unsafe abortion. Strengthening family planning and prioritizing women with disabilities for modern contraceptives are vital.

Elder abuse experienced by older Mexican women with disabilities: a current and retrospective view on domestic violence

The objectives of this study were: 1) to estimate the prevalence of child abuse (CA), intimate partner violence (IPV), and elder abuse (EA) in a representative sample of older Mexican women by status, type, and cause of disability; and 2) to examine the associations of EA with CA, IPV, and disability status. We conducted a secondary data analysis of 21,718 women aged 60 years and older. Older women with disabilities had higher prevalences of CA, IPV, and EA than those with some difficulties or without disabilities. In older women whose disability was acquired at birth or due to aggression, this prevalence was especially high. Older women with disabilities and a history of CA and IPV were twice as likely to suffer EA. Policymakers and government leaders should incorporate the matter of violence against women with disabilities into their public agendas. This should be done while considering the women's various disabilities and causes of disability.

Links across disabilities: unveiling associations between functional domains

BACKGROUND

Persons with disabilities experience higher risks of mortality as well as poorer health as compared to the general population. The aim of this study is to estimate the correlations between functional difficulties across several domains in six countries.

METHODS

National census data with questions on disability from six countries (Mauritius, Morocco, Senegal, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Uruguay) was used in this study. We performed logistic regressions to assess the extent to which having a functional difficulty in one domain is correlated with having a functional difficulty in each of the other domains and report weighted odds ratios (ORs) overall and within age-groups ('18-44' years and '45+' years). Models adjust for age, sex, and location (rural or urban). Sensitivity analyses around different choices of predictors and response variables were conducted.

FINDINGS

For all countries, reporting a functional difficulty in one domain was consistently and significantly positively correlated with reporting a functional difficulty in other domains (overall) and for each of the two age-groups considered - '18-44' years and '45+' years. All ORs were greater than one. Cognition, mobility, and hearing were the domains that were the most correlated ones with other domains. The highest pairwise correlations were for i/ hearing and cognition; ii/ mobility and cognition. Results were robust to changing the severity thresholds for functional difficulties. Across countries, Uruguay, the only high-income country among the six countries under study, had the lowest correlations between functional domains.

CONCLUSIONS

There are consistent positive associations in the experience of functional difficulties in various domains in the six countries under study. Such correlations may reflect barriers to social services including healthcare services and resources (e.g. assistive devices) that may lead to an avoidable deterioration of functioning across domains. Further research is needed on the trajectories of functional difficulties and on structural barriers that people with functional difficulties may experience in their communities and in healthcare settings in particular. This is important as some functional difficulties may be preventable.