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Description of disability type sub-groups

When participants of the Coumarelos et al. (2006) survey reported a chronic illness or disability, they were asked to specify the type of illnesses or disabilities they had.¹¹ Their responses were recorded into the following seven categories:

• mental health problem
• visual disability
• hearing disability
• physical disability
• intellectual disability
• learning disability
• chronic condition.

These seven categories were grouped into five disability type sub-groups for the purposes of the present paper (see Table 2). Due to insufficient numbers, it was not possible to retain intellectual disability and learning disability as disability type sub-groups.¹² Of the 508 participants with a disability, 503 were used in the analyses that compared disability types.¹³ As Table 2 shows, 30 participants reported two or more types of chronic illness or disability. The remaining 473 participants with a disability only reported one type, with 43 reporting a mental health problem, 28 reporting a sensory (visual or hearing) disability, 235 reporting a physical (non-sensory) disability, and 167 reporting a chronic condition.

Table 2: Disability type
Participants with a disability, 2003

Disability type	No. of participants
Mental health problem only a	43
Sensory (visual or hearing) disability only b	28
Physical (non-sensory) disability only c	235
Chronic condition only d	167
Multiple types e	30
Total	503

a Mental health problem includes, but is not limited to, anxiety disorders, psychoses, stress disorders, substance abuse/addiction, personality disorders and depression.
b Sensory disability includes visual disability (i.e. blindness or visual impairment that is not corrected by glasses or contact lenses) and hearing disability (i.e. deafness, hearing impairment and hearing loss).
c Physical disability is a physical impairment that limits the individual’s activities or participation in society. As well as such physical conditions as paraplegia and quadriplegia, it includes loss of limbs and physical conditions that impair movement such as back problems, arthritis and occupational overuse syndrome.
d Chronic conditions are other long-term illnesses or diseases that impair functioning, and include such conditions as diabetes, heart problems and asthma.
e Of these 30 participants, 24 participants reported two disability types, five participants reported three types and one participant reported four types. Of these 30 participants, 23 reported a physical disability, 16 reported a chronic condition, 14 reported a mental health problem, 12 reported a sensory disability and one reported a learning disability.
Notes: n=503 participants with a disability. Disability type was missing for 4 participants with a disability and the participant with an intellectual disability was excluded from the disability type categorisation.