Background to the Research

• The Surveys of Disability in NI conducted by the PPRU during 1989 and 1990 were commissioned to provide information about disability for use in planning policies and services.
• The aims of the surveys were to estimate the prevalence of disability among adults and children and to assess the circumstances under which people with disabilities live.
  

Research Approach

• The Survey methodology was similar to that used in a series of surveys carried out in GB by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys. Comparisons can therefore be made between major findings from the PPRU Surveys and those from GB. In addition, the PPRU Surveys were tailored to take account of issues of particular interest in NI.
• The Surveys were concerned with adults and children who lived in private households or communal establishments such as homes, hospital wards or hostels.
• They focus on disability, which was defined as the restriction or lack of ability to perform normal activities. All types of disability are covered, including those arising from physical, mental, behavioural or emotional disorders.
• This is the second in a series of reports emanating from the PPRU Surveys of Disability. This report focuses on the prevalence of disability among children in NI.
  

Main Findings

• This report provides estimates of the prevalence of disability among children under 16 years living in private households or communal establishments (such as children's homes) in NI. Information is given about they type and severity of disability by the age and gender of the children. Comparisons are made between the patterns observed among children and adults in NI and also between the rates of disability among children in NI and GB.
• According to the definitions and measurements used in the Surveys, it was estimated that 14,600 children under the age of 16 in NI were disabled of whom 8,600 were boys and 6,000 were girls. There were 3,000 disabled children under five years, 5,100 between five and nine years and 6,500 aged ten years or older. Around 14,300 disabled children lived in private households.
• Of all children in NI, 35 per thousand were disabled in 1989/90. The rate among children living in private households was 34 per thousand. Ninety two percent of children living in communal establishments had disabilities.
• The rate of disability among children increased with age and was greater among boys (40 per thousand) than among girls (29 per thousand).
• The NI rate was similar to the rate of 32 per thousand children reported for GB by OPCS.
• A five fold categorization of the severity of disability was reported. There were 3,300 children in the lowest severity category and 2,600 in the highest.
• The surveys used a 13-type classification of disability based on the International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities, and Handicaps. The most common type of disability is maladaptive behaviour which affects an estimated 7400 children; also relatively frequent were locomotion (4,900 children), contingence (4,900 children) and personal care (4,500 children). Many children had more than one type of disability.