Prevalence of Disability in Uttar Pradesh:A District-wise Study

Introduction: Information on disability is essential for the government to formulate policies, allocate adequate resources and implement appropriate programmes. The objective of this study was to measure the prevalence of disability and the estimation of distribution of disabilities by gender, advancing age, districts, geographical regions,work and marital status in the Uttar Pradesh.

Method: We analyzed the 2011 Census data of Uttar Pradesh. Age-adjusted disability rates and disability rates per 100 000 population were calculated.

Results: There were 4157514 individuals with disability in Uttar Pradesh in 2011 accounting for a disability rate of 2081 per 100 000 populations. The disability in hearing, seeing, and movement was most predominant with rates of 514, 382 and 339 per 100 000 respectively of the 71 districts, age-standardized disability rates in 20 districts were above the state average of 2081 per 100 000 population. In all kinds of disability there was mostly male predominance in both rural and urban areas across all agecategories.

Conclusion: About 2 in every 100 person in Uttar Pradesh (2080 per 100 000 persons) is either physically or mentally disabled. Disability rates reflect the overall health status of the population. Identification of the underlying causes and employing effective and focused preventive strategies will help to reduce the burden of disability and maximize the quality of life in Uttar Pradesh.