title: Disability: a model and measurement technique.
abstract: Current methods of ranking or scoring disability tend to be arbitrary. A new method is put forward on the hypothesis that disability progresses in regular, cumulative patterns. A model of disability is defined and tested with the use of Guttman scale analysis. Its validity is indicated on data from a survey in the community and from postsurgical patients, and some factors involved in scale variation are identified. The model provides a simple measurement technique and has implications for the assessment of individual disadvantage, for the prediction of progress in recovery or deterioration, and for evaluation of the outcome of treatment regimes.
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D013502:General Surgery; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D012046:Rehabilitation; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013223:Statistics as Topic