TY - JOUR
T1 - The study of geographic differences in the prevalence of disability among Taiwanese population
AU - Lin, Jin Ding
AU - Li, Chien De
AU - Lin, Lan Ping
AU - Hsu, Shang Wei
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was partially financial support by National Defense Medical Center (NDMC), Taipei, Taiwan ; we would also like to acknowledge the administrative support from research team of Disability & Health, School of Public Health, NDMC in the study.
PY - 2012/1/1
Y1 - 2012/1/1
N2 - The present study analyzes data of the governmental reported general population and population of persons with disabilities from 2002 to 2009, to describe the disability prevalence and to test the overtime change with particular focused on the geographic differences in Taiwan. In average, the disability prevalence was 42.06‰ (range = 31.06‰-80.04‰ in different areas) of the general population during the past 8 years. We found that the disability prevalence in general population (R2 = 0.991; p < 0.001), disability prevalence in men (R2 = 0.992; p < 0.001) and in women (R2 = 0.991; p < 0.001) were significantly increased in curve tests of the study. The disability number were more populous in north or west urban areas (such as Taipei County, Taipei City, Taoyuan County, Taichung County, Kaohsiung City), however, those areas of higher disability prevalence were more likely to locate in east and central remote areas (such as Taitung County = 80.04‰; Yunlin County = 71.95‰; Hualien County = 71.59‰; Chiayi County = 63.51‰ and Yilan County = 59.91‰). The study highlights that the uneven distribution of disability prevalence will bring challenges of health and social welfare services for this group of population. We suggest the authorities should scrutinize the disparity of disability prevalence in different geographic area to examine the equality of social welfare resources distribution in Taiwan.
AB - The present study analyzes data of the governmental reported general population and population of persons with disabilities from 2002 to 2009, to describe the disability prevalence and to test the overtime change with particular focused on the geographic differences in Taiwan. In average, the disability prevalence was 42.06‰ (range = 31.06‰-80.04‰ in different areas) of the general population during the past 8 years. We found that the disability prevalence in general population (R2 = 0.991; p < 0.001), disability prevalence in men (R2 = 0.992; p < 0.001) and in women (R2 = 0.991; p < 0.001) were significantly increased in curve tests of the study. The disability number were more populous in north or west urban areas (such as Taipei County, Taipei City, Taoyuan County, Taichung County, Kaohsiung City), however, those areas of higher disability prevalence were more likely to locate in east and central remote areas (such as Taitung County = 80.04‰; Yunlin County = 71.95‰; Hualien County = 71.59‰; Chiayi County = 63.51‰ and Yilan County = 59.91‰). The study highlights that the uneven distribution of disability prevalence will bring challenges of health and social welfare services for this group of population. We suggest the authorities should scrutinize the disparity of disability prevalence in different geographic area to examine the equality of social welfare resources distribution in Taiwan.
KW - Disability
KW - Disability prevalence
KW - Disability register
KW - Geographic distribution
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U2 - 10.1016/j.rasd.2011.07.001
DO - 10.1016/j.rasd.2011.07.001
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:80053465590
SN - 1750-9467
VL - 6
SP - 73
EP - 78
JO - Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders
JF - Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders
IS - 1
ER -
