The prevalence of disability among adolescents and young adults in low and middle-income countries: A cross-sectional comparison of two measures.

Background: The Washington Group Short Set on Functioning (WG-SS) is frequently used to identify disability among adults in national surveys. Concerns have been raised about the utility of the WG-SS given that it fails to include any items relating to psychosocial disability.

Objective: To compare prevalence estimates for adolescents and young adults derived from the Washington Group's Child Functioning Module (WG-CFM; age 15-17) and the WG-SS (age 18-25).

The Sociodemographic Characteristics of Mothers With Intellectual Disability: A Review of Population-Level Studies.

Background: Population studies confirm mothers with intellectual disability have poorer antenatal outcomes than other mothers but less is known about any differences in sociodemographic characteristics between these groups.

Method: A systematic review of population-level studies on parents with intellectual disability was undertaken from January to August 2023. Seven electronic databases and references from two literature reviews were examined and 27 studies met inclusion criteria for the review.

Self-Harm Among 17-Year-Old Adolescents With/Without Disabilities in the United Kingdom.

Self-harm is a critical public health issue for adolescents/young adults. To estimate the prevalence of self-harm among adolescents with/without disabilities in the United Kingdom. Secondary analysis of data collected at age 17 in the UK's Millennium Cohort Study.

Disability-related inequalities in the prevalence of loneliness across the lifespan: trends from Australia, 2003 to 2020.

Background: Experiencing loneliness can be distressing and increasing evidence indicates that being lonely is associated with poor physical and mental health outcomes. Cross-sectional studies have demonstrated that people with disability have increased risk of experiencing loneliness compared to people without disability. However, we do not know if these inequalities have changed over time.

Integrating rehabilitation into health systems: A comparative study of nine middle-income countries using WHO's Systematic Assessment of Rehabilitation Situation (STARS).

Background And Objective: The need for rehabilitation is growing due to health and demographic trends, especially the rise of non-communicable diseases and the rapid ageing of the global population. However, the extent to which rehabilitation is integrated into health systems is mostly unclear. Our objective is to describe and compare the nature and extent of integration of rehabilitation within health systems across nine middle-income countries using available Systematic Assessment of Rehabilitation Situation (STARS) reports.

Disability and loneliness in the United Kingdom: cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of trends and transitions.

Background: Loneliness can have a detrimental impact on health, yet little is known about the association between disability and loneliness.

Methods: Secondary analysis of three waves of data collected between 2017 and 2020 by the UK's annual household panel study, Understanding Society. Direct age-standardisation was used to compare the prevalence of loneliness at each wave and the persistence of loneliness across all three waves for participants with/without disabilities aged 16-65 years.

Health and wellbeing outcomes associated with loneliness for people with disability: a scoping review.

Background: Loneliness is a significant public health concern due to its detrimental impact on health and wellbeing. Despite people with disability reporting higher levels of loneliness than the general population, there has been little research into how this is affecting their health and wellbeing. In light of this, the aim of our study was to scope both the existing evidence about the health and wellbeing outcomes associated with loneliness for people with disability, as well as the conceptual frameworks and measures utilised in this field of research.

Parental Report of Signs of Anxiety and Depression in Children and Adolescents with and Without Disability in Middle- and Low-Income Countries: Meta-analysis of 44 Nationally Representative Cross-Sectional Surveys.

Population-based studies undertaken in high-income countries have indicated that children and adolescents with disabilities are more likely than their non-disabled peers to experience emotional difficulties such as anxiety and depression. Very little is known about the association between disability and emotional difficulties among children growing up in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). We aimed to estimate the strength of association between disability and two forms of emotional difficulties (anxiety, depression) in a range of LMICs and to determine whether the strength of this relationship was moderated by child age and gender.

The adaptation experience of families with children with developmental disabilities in Mainland China.

Background: Families of children with developmental disabilities face extraordinary changes in their life circumstances and needs that require adaptations to create sustainable and meaningful daily routines. The present study explored the adaptation of Chinese families of children with developmental disabilities from an ecocultural theoretical perspective.

Method: A total of 34 families of children with developmental disabilities were interviewed using the adapted Family Life Interview, and the data were analysed thematically.

Comparison of SARS-CoV-2 entry inhibitors based on ACE2 receptor or engineered Spike-binding peptides.

With increasing resistance of SARS-CoV-2 variants to antibodies, there is interest in developing entry inhibitors that target essential receptor-binding regions of the viral Spike protein and thereby present a high bar for viral resistance. Such inhibitors could be derivatives of the viral receptor, ACE2, or peptides engineered to interact specifically with the Spike receptor-binding pocket. We compared the efficacy of a series of both types of entry inhibitors, constructed as fusions to an antibody Fc domain.

A Systematic Review of Interventions Addressing the Primary Prevention of Violence Against Women With Disability.

Women with disability experience significantly more violence and abuse than their nondisabled peers. Efforts to implement, evaluate, and scale-up strategies to prevent violence against women are rapidly expanding, but we know less about "what works" to prevent violence against women with disability. While secondary and tertiary prevention aim to identify violence early and prevent further occurrence, this review focuses on primary prevention.

Developing self-report disability questions for a voluntary patient registration form for general practice in Australia.

Objective: This article reports on research undertaken to develop self-report disability questions for a patient registration form that may be implemented in general practices across Australia as part of a voluntary patient registration program.

Methods: There were four research components: rapid review of approaches for capturing disability information; expert informant interviews (n=19); stakeholder consultation via virtual focus groups (n=65); and online survey (n=35). Findings from each component informed development of materials for subsequent components in an iterative research process.

A call to action for more disability-inclusive health policy and systems research.

To date, the exclusion of people with disability participating in research has limited the evidence base informing health system strengthening policy and practice more generally, and addressing disability-related inequalities in access to health services and better health outcomes more particularly. Given that more than 1 billion people, or 16% of the world's population, have a disability, we may fail to respond to the needs of a large proportion of the population unless we are purposeful with inclusion. Our research in this area indicates that online qualitative methods can be effective in engaging under-represented groups and are essential to ensure their input into health policy and systems research.

Social interventions to support people with disability: A systematic review of economic evaluation studies.

Social interventions are essential in supporting the health and well-being of people with disability, but there is a critical need to prioritise resources for those that provide the best value for money. Economic evaluation is a widely used tool to assist priority setting when resources are scarce. However, the scope and consistency of economic evaluation evidence for disability social services are unclear, making it hard to compare across interventions to guide funding decisions.

Disability among Women and Men Who Married in Childhood: Evidence from Cross-Sectional Nationally Representative Surveys Undertaken in 37 Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

Child marriage, which the UN's Sustainable Development Goal seeks to eliminate by 2030, represents a violation of the human rights of children. These concerns are driven by the negative impact of child marriage on the health of children married in childhood and their children. Little is known about the association between child marriage and disability.

Exposure of Women With and Without Disabilities to Violence and Discrimination: Evidence from Cross-sectional National Surveys in 29 Middle- and Low-Income Countries.

There is a paucity of robust nationally representative data from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) on the prevalence and risk factors associated with exposure of women with/without disability to either discrimination or violence. We undertook secondary analysis of data collected in Round 6 of UNICEF's Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) involving nationally representative data from 29 countries with a total sample size of 320,426 women aged 18 to 49 years. We estimated: (1) prevalence rates for exposure to discrimination and violence among women with/without disabilities in the previous year in a range of LMICs; (2) the relative risk of exposure when adjusted for demographic and contextual characteristics; (3) the relative risk of exposure associated with specific functional difficulties associated with disabilities; and (4) the association between country-level estimates and national wealth and human development potential.

The wellbeing of women and men with and without disabilities: evidence from cross-sectional national surveys in 27 low- and middle-income countries.

Background: Little is known about disability-related inequities in personal wellbeing (PWB) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Method: Secondary analysis of data collected in Round 6 of UNICEF's Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) undertaken in 27 LMICs (n = 296,693 women, 66,557 men). Data were aggregated across countries by mixed effects multi-level modelling and meta-analysis.

The prevalence of significant cognitive delay among 3- to 4-year-old children growing up in low- and middle-income countries: results from 126 nationally representative surveys undertaken in 73 countries.

Background: We sought to (1) update estimates of the prevalence of significant cognitive delay (SCD) among nationally representative samples of young children overall, and in upper-middle, lower-middle and low-income countries; (2) investigate whether variation in prevalence between countries was systematically associated with national wealth and other country characteristics; (3) investigate the stability of prevalence estimates over time; (4) examine the correlation between SCD and 2019 Global Burden of Disease estimates on the prevalence of the impairment of developmental intellectual disability under 5 years of age; and (5) investigate the extent to which risk of SCD within countries varies with child age and gender, maternal education and household wealth.

Methods: Secondary analysis of data collected in 126 nationally representative Multiple Cluster Indicators Surveys (MICS) conducted under the supervision of UNICEF in 73 countries involving a total of 396 596 3- to 4-year-old children.

Results: The overall prevalence of SCD was 9.

The association between household wealth and the prevalence of child disability and specific functional limitations: Analysis of nationally representative cross-sectional surveys in 40 low- and middle-income countries.

Background: It is commonly stated that people with disabilities are at significantly greater risk of living in poverty than their non-disabled peers. However, most evidence supporting this assertion is drawn from studies in high-income countries and studies of adults. There is relatively little robust evidence on the association between poverty/wealth and the prevalence of child disability in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Do Area-Level Environmental Factors Influence Employment for People with Disability? A Scoping Review.

Employment is an important social determinant of health and wellbeing. People with disability experience labour market disadvantage and have low labour force participation rates, high unemployment rates, and poor work conditions. Environmental factors are crucial as facilitators of or barriers to participation for people with disability.

The impact of the COVID pandemic on working age adults with disability: Meta-analysis of evidence from four national surveys.

Concern has been expressed about the extent to which people with disabilities may be particularly vulnerable to negative impacts of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. However, to date little published research has attempted to characterise or quantify the risks faced by people with/without disabilities in relation to COVID-19. We sought to compare the impact of the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated government responses among working age adults with and without disabilities in the UK on; COVID-19 outcomes, health and wellbeing, employment and financial security, health behaviours, and conflict and trust.

The prevalence of disability among Roma and non-Roma children in four West Balkan countries.

Background: Very little is known about the prevalence of disability among Roma children.

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of disability and significant cognitive delay among Roma and non-Roma children aged from 2 to 17 years in four West Balkan countries.

Methods: Secondary analysis of data collected in Round 6 of UNICEF's Multiple Indicators Cluster Surveys.