DISABILITY IN YOUNG-ADULTS - THE ROLE OF INJURIES

Study objective-To describe the prevalence of disability in young adul ts and estimate the contribution that injuries make to disability. Des ign-The study uses data from a British longitudinal survey, the Nation al Child Development Study (1958 cohort). Disability at age 23 was asc ertained from three questions asked in an interview with cohort member s in 1981: these related to longstanding illness that limits activity, permanent disability following an accident after age 16, and register ed disability. Lower and upper estimates of the contribution of injuri es to disability were derived from ICD-9 codes allocated to the disabi lities. Subjects-These comprised 12 537 subjects, representing 76% of the target population, cohort members still alive and resident in Brit ain in 1981. Main results-Prevalence of disability according to the th ree definitions was: 46 per 1000 with limiting longstanding illness; 2 8 per 1000 with a permanent accident related disability of onset after age 16; and 10 per 1000 registered disabled. Combining all three defi nitions, the overall prevalence of disability was 68 per 1000, with me n reporting more disability than women. It was estimated that an injur y caused the disability for 16.7% of subjects, at the lower estimate, and 26.0% at the upper estimate (23.1% to 32.1% for men and 8.6% to 18 .4% for women). For limiting longstanding illness of onset after 16, b etween 33.5% and 47.8% was due to an injury. Road accidents caused 31% of permanent accident related disability. Over one half of men and ne arly three quarters of women reporting permanent accident related disa bility had not been admitted to hospital for their injury. Conclusions -Injuries are an important cause of disability in young adults, partic ularly injuries resulting from accidents after age 16. Accident preven tion in the 16-24 group has the potential to reduce the prevalence of disability substantially.