Disability in the American Community Survey

The American Community Survey (ACS) is a primary source of information on the type and prevalence of disability in the US. It is used to identify the characteristics of the disabled population of the United States and is used quite often in policy decisions.[1] Determining the number and geographical location of people with disabilities is crucial for policies aimed at providing services like public transportation.[2]

Influential data source on disability

The United States Census Bureau is legally charged with developing information on the type and prevalence of disability in the population.[3] The ACS is a primary source of information on the type and prevalence of disability in the US.[4] There are other smaller survey studies that provide some insight on disability in the US. While studies like the National Health Interview Survey[5] the Health and Retirement Study,[6] the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System,[7] and the Health, Aging, and Body Composition (Health ABC) Study[8] are used to infer valuable disability-related health characteristics in the US population, data from the ACS plays a key role in helping allocate federal funds (from tax dollars) for the disabled.[9][10][11] For example, in fiscal year 2008, data from the ACS assisted more than 180 federal domestic assistance programs make decisions on how to distribute $416 billion (29% of all federal assistance budget) and about $389 billion in federal grant funding.[12] The primary purpose of collecting ACS data on disability is to help the US Congress determine the allocation of federal funds and inform policies.[13] Consequently, data on disability in the ACS has research, policy, and funding relevance.

Disability questions in the ACS

Information on the development of disability questions in the ACS is available ACS history and pre-tabulated data products are made public by the US Census Bureau.[14] In 2015, the ACS included the following questions about physical impairments associated with activities of daily living:[15]

  1. Does this person have serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs?
  2. Does this person have difficulty dressing or bathing?
  3. Because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition, does this person have serious difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions?
  4. Because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition, does this person have difficulty doing errands alone such as visiting a doctor’s office or shopping?
  5. Is this person deaf or does he/she have serious difficulty hearing?
  6. Is this person blind or does he/she have serious difficulty seeing even when wearing glasses?

Methodology of operationalization

While responses to these items are commonly refer to as "disability", it could be argued the ACS does not directly measure disability[16] —it uses self- and proxy-reports to evaluate perceived ability to perform functional tasks. Existing publications have delineated details on the US population regarding disability by using information from the ACS.[17][18][19][20] Publications have also outlined issues with disability data in the ACS.[21][22][23][24] Research on disability continues to improve,[25][26] and potential remedies are found for current methodological challenges.[27][28] Because of the uniqueness, regarding federal funding and policy, researchers from various fields (e.g., sociology, epidemiology, and government) make wide use of ACS data to better understand disability in the US.[29]

References

  1. ↑ Brault M W. (2012). Americans with disabilities: 2010 (pp. P70-P131). US Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration, US Census Bureau.
  2. ↑ Brucker, Debra L.; Houtenville, Andrew J. (May 2015). "People With Disabilities in the United States". Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 96 (5): 771–774. doi:10.1016/j.apmr.2015.02.024.
  3. ↑ Siordia, Carlos (2014). "Proxy-reports in the Ascertainment of Disability Prevalence with American Community Survey Data". Journal Frailty & Aging. 3 (4): 238–246. doi:10.14283/jfa.2014.31.
  4. ↑ Siordia, Carlos (2014). "Detecting "real" population changes with American Community Survey data: The implicit assumption of treating between-year differences as "trends".". Journal of Sociological Research. 4 (2): 494–509. doi:10.5296/jsr.v4i2.4883.
  5. ↑ "National Health Interview Survey". CDC.gov. Retrieved 2015-07-28.
  6. ↑ "Health and Retirement Study". Umich.edu. Retrieved 2015-07-28.
  7. ↑ "Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System". CDC.gov. Retrieved 2015-07-28.
  8. ↑ "National Institute on Aging, Laboratory of Epidemiology, Demography, and Biometry". Grc.nia.nih.gov. 2012-05-17. Retrieved 2015-08-04.
  9. ↑ Siordia, Carlos (8 August 2014). "Number of People in the United States Experiencing Ambulatory and Independent Living Difficulties". Journal of Social Work in Disability & Rehabilitation. 13 (3): 261–277. doi:10.1080/1536710X.2014.912187.
  10. ↑ Siordia, Carlos (6 December 2014). "Disability Prevalence According to a Class, Race, and Sex (CSR) Hypothesis". Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. 2: 303–310. doi:10.1007/s40615-014-0073-8.
  11. ↑ Siordia, Carlos (2014). "Precision in estimates of disability prevalence for the population aged 65 and over in the United States by race and ethnicity.". Journal of Frailty & Aging. 3 (3): 187–192. doi:10.14283/jfa.2014.22.
  12. ↑ Blanchard, Rachel. "Surveying for Dollars: The American Community Survey's Role in Federal Funding | Brookings Institution". Brookings.edu. Retrieved 2015-08-04.
  13. ↑ U. S. Census Bureau (2009), A Compass for Understanding and Using American Community Survey Data: What PUMS Data Users Need to Know (pdf), Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office
  14. ↑ "Disability - American Community Survey (ACS) - People and Households - U.S. Census Bureau". Census.gov. 2015-06-30. Retrieved 2015-08-04.
  15. ↑ "The American Community Survey" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 2015.
  16. ↑ von Reichert, Christiane; Greiman, Lillie; Myers, Andrew (2014). "The Geography of Disability in America: On Rural-Urban Differences in Impairment Rates" (pdf). Independent Living and Community Participation (Paper 7). University of Montana Rural Institute.
  17. ↑ Siordia, Carlos (26 March 2015). "Rates of Allocation for Disability Items by Mode in the American Community Survey". Issues in Social Science. 3 (1): 62. doi:10.5296/iss.v3i1.7178.
  18. ↑ Siordia, Carlos (March 2015). "Disability Estimates between Same- and Different-Sex Couples: Microdata from the American Community Survey (2009-2011).". Sexuality and disability. 33 (1): 107–121. doi:10.1007/s11195-014-9364-6. PMID 25745275.
  19. ↑ Burkhauser, RV (2014). "Capturing the Elusive Working-Age Population With Disabilities Reconciling Conflicting Social Success Estimates From the Current Population Survey and American Community Survey.". Journal of Disability Policy Studies. 24 (4): 195–205.
  20. ↑ Siordia, Carlos (14 April 2014). "Married Once, Twice, and Three or More Times: Data From the American Community Survey". Journal of Divorce & Remarriage. 55 (3): 206–215. doi:10.1080/10502556.2014.887377.
  21. ↑ Siordia, Carlos; Le, Vi Donna (25 March 2013). "Precision of Disability Estimates for Southeast Asians in the American Community Survey 2008-2010 Microdata". Central Asian Journal of Global Health. 2 (1). doi:10.5195/cajgh.2013.40.
  22. ↑ Citro CF & Kalton G. (Eds.). (2007). Using the American Community Survey: benefits and challenges. National Academies Press.
  23. ↑ Hough, GC (2006). "An evaluation of the American Community Survey: results from the Oregon test site.". Journal of Research and Policy Review. 25 (3): 257–273. doi:10.1007/s11113-006-0007-1.
  24. ↑ Siordia, C; Young, R (April 2013). "Methodological note: allocation of disability items in the American Community Survey.". Disability and health journal. 6 (2): 149–53. doi:10.1016/j.dhjo.2012.11.007. PMID 23507166.
  25. ↑ Brault, Matthew W. (2012). "Americans with disabilities: 2010" (pdf). US Census Bureau: 70–131.
  26. ↑ Singh, Gopal K.; Lin, Sue C. (2013). "Marked Ethnic, Nativity, and Socioeconomic Disparities in Disability and Health Insurance among US Children and Adults: The 2008–2010 American Community Survey". BioMed Research International. 2013: 1–17. doi:10.1155/2013/627412.
  27. ↑ Burkhauser, R. V.; Houtenville, A. J.; Tennant, J. R. (5 June 2012). "Capturing the Elusive Working-Age Population With Disabilities: Reconciling Conflicting Social Success Estimates From the Current Population Survey and American Community Survey". Journal of Disability Policy Studies. 24 (4): 195–205. doi:10.1177/1044207312446226.
  28. ↑ Maples, Jerry J.; Brault, Matthew (2014). "Improving Small Area Estimates of Disability: Combining the American Community Survey with the Survey of Income and Program Participation" (pdf). US Census Bureau.
  29. ↑ Erickson W, Lee C, & von Schrader S. (2013). Disability Statistics from the 2011 American Community Survey (ACS). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Employment and Disability Institute (EDI).
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