Disability data is essential for countries to be able to develop evidenced-based policies to monitor the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and to measure progress towards national targets, as well as to take stock of the challenges that remain unresolved.
WHO has a long tradition of supporting countries to collect valid and reliable data on disability. Since the beginning of the 21st century, WHO has had several major milestones in disability data collection. It began with the Multi-Country Survey Study in 2000, measuring health in a systematic, standardized, and cross–nationally comparable manner. WHO’s consistent efforts to collect data on disability has led to the model disability survey in 2012, which gives detailed and nuanced information on the lives of people with disabilities. Recently, WHO developed the Functioning and disability disaggregation tool (FDD11) to support countries and programmes in disaggregation of data by disability.
64-year-old woman in her family house during a disability field survey. She had a stroke in 2016. (Islamabad, Pakistan 2019)
The model disability survey (MDS) is a general population survey that provides comprehensive information about the distribution of disability in a country or region. By collecting detailed and nuanced information about how people with different levels of disability conduct their lives, it identifies unmet needs as well as barriers and inequalities. The MDS helps Member States develop policies and services and provides the data to monitor the progress of countries on meeting their obligations regarding the Sustainable Development Goals and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Brief MDS
The Brief MDS is a short version of the longer survey, developed in 2016, following extensive analysis of data from pilot and national MDS datasets, consultations with international experts and engagement of people with disability. The Brief MDS was developed to meet calls for a version appropriate for integration in existing and regularly implemented household surveys, such as those on labour force or living standards.
Technical material
MDS reports
Frequently asked questions
WHO Functioning and Disability Disaggregation (FDD11) tool: a reliable approach for disaggregating data by disability (Lee et al. 2022)
Measuring functioning and disability using household surveys:
metric properties of the brief version of the WHO and World Bank model
disability survey. (Sabariego C, Fellinghauer C, Lee L, Posarac A, Bickenbach J,
Kostanjsek N, Chatterji S, Kamenov K, Cieza A, 2021)
Identifying key environmental barriers experienced by persons
with mild, moderate, or severe disability in Bankim Health District, Cameroon:
a policy-targeted secondary analysis of data obtained with the World Bank and
WHO model disability survey. (Lee L, Mou F, Um Boock A, Fellinghauer C, Kohls M, Cieza A, Sabariego C, 2021)
Rethinking Disability. (Cieza A, Sabariego C, Bickenbach J, Chatterji S, 2018)
What makes the difference in people’s lives when they have a mental disorder? (Kamenov et al., 2017)
Determinants of Work Performance in Workers with Depression and Anxiety: A Cross-Sectional Study. (Ivandic et al., 2017)
Recommendation for the collection and analysis of data on participation and disability from the perspective of the World Health Organization. (Coenen M, Sabariego C, Cieza A, 2016)
Which Environmental Factors Have the Highest Impact on the Performance of People Experiencing Difficulties in Capacity? (Loidl et al., 2016)
Measuring Disability: Comparing the Impact of Two Data
Collection Approaches on Disability Rates. (Sabariego C, Oberhauser C, Posarac A, Bickenbach J, Kostanjsek
N, Chatterji S, Officer A, Coenen M, Chhan L, Cieza A, 2015)
Contact: disability@who.int
