Parents' reports of disability among 13 year olds: preliminary experiences with WHO's ICIDH

Disability, as defined by the International Classification of Impairments Disabilities and Handicaps (ICIDH), was studied in a sample of 13 year olds (n = 831) who are involved in a longitudinal study of health, development and behaviour. The disability categories of ICIDH were used to develop a self-administered questionnaire for completion by parents, and 831 parents completed the questionnaire. The most common reported disabilities were: writing/spelling (26%), coping with dust/pollens or chemicals (15%), and coping with school work (15%). Eighty-one parents reported that their teenager had some circumstantial dependency; 49 of these mentioned medication that was associated with asthma management. Despite problems in the application of the disability categories of ICIDH, they were considered to provide a useful means by which to study disability systematically among teenagers.