Reliability and validity of disability questions for US Census 2000.
OBJECTIVE
We investigated the validity and proxy reliability of 7 new disability questions from the 2000 US census ("Census 2000").


METHODS
A total of 131 people with disabilities and their proxies from St Louis, Mo, and Massachusetts were interviewed, and responses were compared for concordance. Responses also were compared with responses to questions from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and the Activities of Daily Living (ADL) instrument.


RESULTS
Overall, proxies reported more impairment than did people with disabilities, and agreement was low (kappa = 0.24-0.55). Concordance was moderate between the census questions and their BRFSS and ADL counterparts.


CONCLUSIONS
The Census 2000 questions may not provide an accurate profile of disability in America.
Andresen
E M
EM
Department of Community Health, Saint Louis University School of Public Health, MO 63108, USA. andresen@slu.edu
Fitch
C A
CA
McLendon
P M
PM
Meyers
A R
AR
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D019352:Censuses; D015331:Cohort Studies; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology