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Forum on International Collaborative Research in Rehabilitation
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(METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES IN INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS: THE INTERNATIONAL CLASSIFICATION OF FUNCTIONING, DISABILITY, AND HEALTH (ICF))
Gerry Hendershot, Ph.
D.,
Consultant on Disability and Health Statistics
University Park, Maryland, U.S.A.
Abstract
Disability International Standard Tabulations (DISTab or DISTAB) was established to improve the international comparability of disability statistics from national surveys. With the leadership of the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, representatives of five recently completed national disability surveys began to meet by telephone monthly and face-to-face annually. The countries represented were Canada, France, the Netherlands, South Africa, and the United States. DISTAB's goal was to produce comparable tables of disability statistics using standard disability terminology and standard table formats. The standard terminology was the World Health Organization's International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities, and Handicap (ICIDH -- now the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health, or ICF) and the standard formats were those recommended by the United Nations Statistical Division. DISTAB participated in developing the new ICF, and its membership and interests have now expanded to include more members and more general issues of disability survey improvement and standardization.