Surveillance Questions
Explore two standard surveys commonly used to collect disability data.
ACS-6 Questions
The Affordable Care Act required all Federally funded population health surveys to include a standard set of questions—the American Community Survey Disability Questions (ACS-6)—assessing functional limitations in the general population.
Answer choices are:
Yes / No
Answer choices are:
Yes / No
1. Are you deaf or do you have serious difficulty hearing?
2. Are you blind or do you have serious difficulty seeing, even when wearing glasses?
3. Because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition, do you have serious difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions? (5 years old or older)
4. Do you have serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs? (5 years old or older)
5. Do you have difficulty dressing or bathing? (5 years old or older)
6. Because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition, do you have difficulty doing errands alone such as visiting a doctor's office or shopping? (15 years old or older)
Washington Group Short Set
The Washington Group Short Set (WG-SS) is in wide use globally.
The WG-SS cognition limitation question is used to define intellectual disabilities in epidemiologic studies, but it lacks the detail needed to differentiate intellectual disabilities from other cognitive disabilities that could be related to neurological disorders.
Answer choices are:
No difficulty / Some difficulty / A lot of difficulty / Cannot do at all
The WG-SS cognition limitation question is used to define intellectual disabilities in epidemiologic studies, but it lacks the detail needed to differentiate intellectual disabilities from other cognitive disabilities that could be related to neurological disorders.
Answer choices are:
No difficulty / Some difficulty / A lot of difficulty / Cannot do at all