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Disability: key data sources

The Scottish Household Survey provides subjective data on disability by asking respondents 'Do you have any long-standing illness, health problem or disability?' The survey also asks respondents to self-assess their current health status as either 'good', 'fairly good' or 'not good'. The latter is presented within this section of the website as a further proxy measure for disability.

NOMIS is a service provided by the Office for National Statistics which gives free access to the most detailed and up-to-date UK labour market statistics from official sources. This includes data on benefits claimants at national and various sub-national geographies in Scotland.

A 2003 study by Sharon Davidson of NHS Health Scotland (funded by The Scottish Executive’s Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics project) investigated all potential indicators of disability in Scotland. The final report (click here to download Word document (400KB)) includes detailed appendices on all sources of disability-related data, including administrative data, voluntary sector data, and survey data.

The Scottish Executive’s Social Focus on Disability publication (2004) collated material from a range of survey and data sources including the Scottish Household Survey, the Labour Force Survey and the 2001 Census to produce a single document summarising statistics on disability in Scotland. The topics covered include: disabled population; households and housing; qualifications and education; labour market; health and care; and income and benefits.

Another useful summary document in terms of disability-related statistics is Disability in Scotland 2004: Key Facts and Figures PDF Button (100KB), published in 2005 by the then Disability Rights Commission (DRC).  The Scottish Council Foundation, in collaboration with the Disability Rights Commission, published a report in 2006 'Disability in Scotland 2005-2020: A State of the Nation Report' PDF Button (1.38MB), which used existing evidence to describe the current position of disabled people in Scotland and how their position might be improved in the future.

In 2006 the Scottish Government published 'High Level Summary of Equality statistics: Extracted trends by Disability' PDF Button (452KB), bringing together statistics from a range of sources and covering topics such as population, education, transport and tourism.

Some disability related data are included within ScotPHO's new Community Health Profiles (e.g. adults unable to work due to illness/disability, disability living allowance, attendance allowance claimants, long-term limiting illness, self-assessed health classified as 'not good').

The report Dimensions of Diversity: Population Differences and Health Improvement Opportunities published by ScotPHO in 2010 also has useful information and data on disability in Scotland.