Statistics on handicaps and disabilities

These statistics are generated based on the 1999 Survey on Disabilities, Impairments and Health Status, the goal of which is to detect individuals with disabilities who then respond to a battery of questions on their perception of their disability. These statistics have the following objectives:

• To estimate the number of people living in family dwellings who suffering from some type of handicap, and to find out what their handicaps are.
• To find out the seriousness of the different types of disabilities which have given rise to these handicaps, and to identify the disabilities associated with each of the social groups.
• To find out the causes behind these disabilities in order to gather data to develop social policies aimed at reducing those disabilities that can be prevented.
• To estimate the number of people who are at a disadvantage in terms of their environment as a result of their disability, and to analyse these disadvantages.
• To find out the structure of the population living in family dwellings who suffers from some type of disability and to seek profiles of the population’s state of need as well as how to provide information on the risk factors associated with these phenomena and on the problems of families with a disabled member.

Other objectives of these statistics are to provide information on the socio-health differences between people with and without disabilities and to identify risk factors that affect the population’s overall state of health by means of researching certain living habits as well as the use of health services.

This information is also published in the book entitled Estadística de discapacitats i deficiències. The results can also be examined in the Bank of statistics on municipalities and counties and in Demographics and quality of life.