Prevalence of disabling conditions in a rural northern Thai community: a survey conducted by village health communicators.

This report presents a survey of disabling conditions conducted by village health communicators (VHCs) in 1989 in a rural northern Thai community. The disabled were first identified by a VHC and then examined clinically and socially by a health care team both to confirm the clinical diagnosis and to formulate an appropriate treatment plan. The overall prevalence rate of disabled persons was 6.3/1,000 population. The prevalence rate was higher for males than females and increased with age. Locomotor disability (48.8%) was the most commonly identified disabling condition, with visual disability (27.8%) the next most common. Communication disorders, mental retardation, and psychosis constituted the remaining 23.4%. Of the locomotor disabilities, the major disabling conditions were poliomyelitis, congenital malformations, traumatic amputations, and cerebral palsy. Unoperated cataract accounted for 72.0% of all cases with visual disabilities. While the true magnitude of the disability problem may be somewhat understated, the data reported in this study clearly reveal that there are many persons with untreated disabling conditions in rural communities, and that a significant number of them can benefit from medical treatment and rehabilitation. A survey utilizing VHCs may be helpful to identify the disabled in rural communities.