The physically disabled in the Netherlands--evaluation of the 1971/1972 survey

This article describes a survey to collect information on the physically disabled in the Netherlands, carried out in 1971/1972. Definitions, objectives, and methods are described. Estimated numbers of disabled people in the Netherlands are given, together with their main characteristics in terms of age, sex, kind of functional disorder, and underlying cause. Impaired people are also compared with non-impaired persons in the population, so as to reveal measures of deprivation. The overall results of the survey are then assessed, in terms both of the extent to which the original objectives were attained and of disadvantages encountered. The paper concludes with a discussion of more recent developments, including the introduction of the International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities, and Handicaps, a study of factors determining needs, and a catalogue of requirements for updating, completing, and enlarging the data.