Health disparities among workers and nonworkers with functional limitations: implications for improving employment in the United States.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare workers and nonworkers who reported mild, moderate, and severe/complete functional limitations to identify disparities in 19 health and social indicators.

Method: Using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health as our conceptual framework, we analyzed data from the combined 2000-2008 National Health Interview Survey, comparing workers and nonworkers by severity of functional limitations, as measured by the FL12 Scale of Functional Limitation Severity.

Results: Only 9.

Health risk profile for older adults with blindness: an application of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health framework.

Purpose: To develop a health risk profile for adults age 65 years or older with blindness, using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) as our conceptual framework.

Methods: We combined and analyzed data from the 2000-2006 National Health Interview Survey after backcoding questions to the ICF. We compared older adults with blindness (n = 477) and older adults with vision loss but not blindness (n = 6,721) with older adults who reported no vision loss (n = 33,497) for the following outcome measures: demographics, functional limitations (self-care, social participation, and mobility limitations), level of psychological distress, physical health status, selected chronic conditions and health risk behaviors (smoking, alcohol use, obesity, and physical inactivity).

Aging with cerebral palsy and other disabilities: personal reflections and recommendations.

This article describes the lived experience of one 64-year-old woman who is aging with cerebral palsy (CP) and other multiple disabilities. Reflections are offered on coping with secondary conditions and functional decline; fighting the effects of pain and fatigue; and managing well-meaning, but misdirected, medical advice. Recommendations based on the author's personal and professional experience with disabilities, including CP, are presented on the aging process and on preventive care for adults living with CP.

Effects of depressive symptoms on health behavior practices among older adults with vision loss.

Objective: The authors examined the interface between visual impairment and depressive symptoms on health behaviors, self-care, and social participation among adults ages 65 and older.

Method: The authors analyzed data from the 1997-2004 National Health Interview Survey on visual impairment and depressive symptoms for 49,278 adults ages 65 and older, comparing visually impaired adults (n = 8,787) with and without depressive symptoms with a reference group of adults with neither condition (n = 3,136) for outcome measures: physical health, health behaviors, and difficulties with self-care and social participation.

Results: Adults with visual impairment and severe depressive symptoms were more likely than adults with neither condition to smoke (14.

Multiple health disparities among minority adults with mobility limitations: san application of the ICF framework and codes.

Purpose: To examine the interface between mobility limitations and minority status and its effect on multiple health and health-related domains among adults, using the framework of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF).

Methods: We combined 8 years of data from the 1997-2004 US National Health Interview Survey to investigate health disparities among minorities with mobility limitations as defined by the ICF. A total of 79,739 adults surveyed met these criteria.

Barriers and strategies affecting the utilisation of primary preventive services for people with physical disabilities: a qualitative inquiry.

Individuals with physical disabilities are less likely to utilise primary preventive healthcare services than the general population. At the same time they are at greater risk for secondary conditions and as likely as the general population to engage in health risk behaviours. This qualitative exploratory study had two principal objectives: (1) to investigate access barriers to obtaining preventive healthcare services for adults with physical disabilities and (2) to identify strategies to increase access to these services.

Adverse health behaviors and chronic conditions in working-age women with disabilities.

This retrospective, cross-sectional, multiple cohort study of women with disabilities addresses two health-related areas in a nationally representative sample of women living in the community. Using data from the 1997-1998 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), health risk behaviors and chronic conditions were examined for women with mild, moderate, and severe functional limitations, and their responses were compared to those of women who reported no limitations. Women with severe limitations evidenced the highest risk for heavy cigarette smoking.

The organization and financing of health services for persons with disabilities.

Americans with disabilities are rarely considered a distinct group of health care users in the same way as are older Americans, children, racial and ethnic minorities, and others who are perceived to have different needs and access issues. Indeed, to some extent individuals with disabilities overlap with all these groups. But they also have distinct needs with material implications for the organization, delivery, and financing of health care services.