Original Article
The development and testing of a module on child functioning for identifying children with disabilities on surveys. I: Background

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Abstract

This is the first of three papers that will document the development of a survey module on child functioning developed by UNICEF in collaboration with the Washington Group on Disability Statistics (WG), and demonstrate – both conceptually and through test results – the strengths of that module compared with alternative tools for identifying children with disabilities in household surveys.

This first paper in the series sets the background and reviews the literature leading to the development of the UNICEF/WG Child Functioning Module (CFM) and presents the WG Short Set of questions (WG-SS) and the Ten Question Screening Instrument (TQSI) as precursors, outlining some of their shortcomings and how the UNICEF/WG CFM was designed to meet those challenges.

Subsequent articles will summarize results from the cognitive and field testing of the CFM including comparisons with results derived from the TQSI and the WG-SS.

Section snippets

Tools for measuring child functioning and disability

While the concept of disability is the same for children and adults, there are additional considerations for children that warrant development of a set of questions specific to them. Children are in a constant state of development that implies continuous change in their ability to perform actions and activities.

“In contrast to the relatively stable characteristics of the adult the evolving characteristics of the child represent a moving target, complicating the task of assessing function and

Summary

The module on child functioning developed by UNICEF and the Washington Group represents an advance over the TQSI in that it allows for scaled responses to better describe the underlying continuum of disability, and to determine the degree of difficulty – thereby eliminating many potential false positives, while still allowing for the identification of children who may have some difficulties and potentially may be in need of treatment, services or other accommodations. It also addresses a fuller

Conflict-of-interest/financial disclosure

No listed author has any conflict of interest that might include specific financial interests or relationships and affiliations relevant to the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript.

Disclaimer

The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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