Washington Group Questions

What and why: A brief explanation of the Washington Group questions on disability

Why is this needed?

It’s estimated that there are one billion persons with disabilities in the world. Although many countries currently collect data on persons with disabilities, the methods used can vary greatly. The result is inconsistent and often poor-quality information that can underestimate the prevalence of disability, that lacks a nuanced understanding of the different types of disabilities, and is not locally, regionally or globally comparable.

In reality, there is a critical evidence gap regarding the incidence, distribution and experience of persons with disabilities. This may lead decision makers to overlook persons with disabilities in policies and programming, making it impossible to benchmark and monitor progress for persons with disabilities.

To address this, the Washington Group on Disability Statistics developed a single standard set of universal questions on disability for use in censuses and surveys. These questions identify and measure disability across multiple domains of functioning and enable the coordination and comparison of data.

The Washington Group Short Set of Questions:

WG-SS asks individuals about difficulties they may have doing certain daily activities because of a health problem:

Do you have difficulty seeing, even if wearing glasses?
Do you have difficulty hearing, even if using a hearing aid?
Do you have difficulty walking or climbing steps?
Do you have difficulty remembering or concentrating?
Do you have difficulty (with self-care such as) washing all over or dressing?
Using your usual (customary) language, do you have difficulty communicating, for example understanding or being understood?

Answers:

a. No – no difficulty, b. Yes – some difficulty, c. Yes – a lot of difficulty, d. Cannot do at all

What are they and why use them?

The short set = six questions based on functioning. The short set can provide key information for evidence-based advocacy and policies. Where possible, expanding data collection beyond the short set of questions will give more complete information on persons with disabilities.

Simple and short: The Washington Group short set is the simplest and shortest set of questions used to identify the population with disabilities. It is relatively efficient, low cost and easy to incorporate into ongoing data collection of national statistical systems. Other tools are appropriate when a more detailed understanding of functional difficulties or barriers and enablers to inclusion is required.
Tried and tested: The Washington Group short set has been rigorously tested across the world in many languages to ensure it delivers internationally comparable data.
Widely endorsed and utilised: Many countries and stakeholders strongly support the Washington Group short set to determine the prevalence of and to disaggregate data by disability, particularly in household surveys and national censuses. For example, by UNSD for the 2020 round of census, and the Conference of European Statisticians, UNECE.
Can be used to disaggregate data: It’s simple, comparable and relatively low-cost application makes the Washington Group short set suitable for disaggregating by disability status and monitoring progress in attaining the Sustainable Development Goals. Its use in disaggregation is widely endorsed by the global disability movement, various UN entities and non-government organisations.

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development require that statistics and data be disaggregated by disability whenever applicable.

Supplementary information

What about other disabilities and children with disabilities?

The Washington Group short set is not perfect.
The short set of questions do not directly address psychosocial disabilities due to the challenges of creating questions that capture the complexity of psychosocial disabilities in a national census.
However, an Enhanced Short Set and Extended Set of questions on functioning that includes questions on psychosocial disabilities has been developed for use in surveys.
The Washington Group short set is not designed for use with children with disabilities since they were designed to include the total population in censuses.
The Washington Group/UNICEF Module on Child Functioning includes domains of importance to the functional status of children and adolescents.

What do these additional questions cover?

Enhanced Short Set (12 questions): Includes additional questions on upper body functioning, as well as anxiety and depression. The questions on anxiety and depression have a different response format and cut-off point compared to the other questions in the short set.
Extended Set (24 questions): Includes supplements to the short set of questions as well as additional questions on upper body functioning, anxiety and depression, pain and fatigue, and the use of assistive devices. The questions on pain and fatigue follow similar response formats to the questions on anxiety and depression.

Can they be used outside of official government censuses and surveys?

While they were designed to address the quality shortcomings in internationally comparable data, these questions are increasingly being used by others such as development and humanitarian organisations to identify persons with disabilities within their programmes and to disaggregate programme data.