Work disability in The Netherlands: data, conceptual aspects, and perspectives.

Data on work disability lack a standardized approach when defining the main variables. As a consequence, these data do not usually provide reliable information about health problems and related outcome measures. Examples of this unreliability are provided by the rather different approaches used in Dutch social security compared with the national statistics on disability. Several authors have tried to cope with this by introducing concepts that recognize disability as the multifaceted phenomenon it is and still provide reliable data. We recommend the development and global use of one concept so as to make data comparable. The recently presented International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health seems to be a sound base for further exploration of the possibilities for standardization in occupational health and social security.