6^th^ Meeting of the Washington Group on Disability Statistics

Kampala, Uganda

October 10-13, 2006

**[Summary of pre-test results for WG short set of questions:
SELF-CARE]{.underline}**

**Introductory phrase:**

The next questions ask about difficulties you may have doing certain
activities because of a HEALTH PROBLEM.

**[Question on self-care]{.underline}**

Do you have difficulty (with self-care such as) washing all over or
dressing?

a.  No -- no difficulty

b.  Yes -- some difficulty

c.  Yes -- a lot of difficulty

d.  Cannot do at all

[Summary of pre-test results]{.underline}:

In the cognitive tests, only 96 of the cases (out of 1197) fell into the
"problematic" group of response patterns for the self-care question.
There were only two problematic response patterns: pattern "d" where
respondents reported difficulty on the WG question but not on the
extended questions[^1] and pattern "h" where respondents reported no
difficulty on the WG question but reported difficulty on three or more
of the extended questions. Potential explanations include
misinterpretation of the question by respondents; for example, in
Vietnam, respondents were not clear whether the question was asking if
the respondent actually cared for themselves or if they had the ability
to do so. Since the WG question only asks about washing and dressing,
some respondents may have answered "no" because they do not have
difficulty with these tasks although they may have difficulty with other
self-care tasks. One problem that makes interpretation difficult is that
the extended questions were dichotomous while the WG questions had
scaled responses. Thus, some of borderline patterns might have
disappeared if there were scaled responses on the extended questions.
Also, some of the extended questions may be less relevant in certain
cultures / countries (for instance tying shoelaces or putting on socks
or stockings). Thus, inconsistencies in responses to the WG question
versus the extended questions may have to do with extent to which
extended questions are relevant to the culture and context.

Data from the field tests demonstrated a similar pattern for the WG
question compared to the extended questions, although respondents tended
to express more difficulty on the extended questions than the WG
question. Field test data from Vietnam revealed a potentially important
difference between "unable" on the WG question versus the extended
questions. There was a recommended to evaluate these data in more detail
to understand the discrepancy.

Overall, the self care question performed well. The question was
generally understood by respondents and there were very few problems
with the question. Although problems were anticipated with this question
because it was oriented toward more complex activity compared to the
other WG questions (and therefore potentially more culturally
influenced) this did not seem to pose a problem when comparing data
across countries. Some of the discrepancies that did exist could have
been due to the difference in the number of response categories in
extended questions compared to the WG question. The results were felt to
be good; the question was interpreted as intended. There were no
recommendations for revision of this question.

[^1]: Extended questions: *By yourself and not using aids, do you have
    any difficulty* (i) *reaching up over your head?* (ii) *reaching out
    as if to shake someone's hand?* (iii) *using your fingers to button
    a shirt or dress?* (iv) *putting on socks or stockings?* (v) *tying
    your shoelaces?* (vi) *combing your hair?* (vii) *feeding yourself?*