Abstract

The aim of the study is to evaluate the prevalance and the ethiology of disabilities, to evaluate the dependences of these people in their daily lives and to study the sight of society to disabled people. A cross-sectional design was used to study a group of 2700 people in the center of Aydın province. Multistage sampling including cluster and random sampling respectively was used in the selection of study group from 9 health centers. A structured questionnaire was used to interview people by face to face interview technique. The prevalance of disability was 4.9 %. 59.7 % of disabled people were male, 85.1 % were with or less than primary school education, 66.4 % were unemployed and 26.9 % had no social security. It was declaired that 68.2 % of disabilities were occured because of postnatal reasons, 19.8 % were because of antenatal reasons and 12.0 % were because of perinatal reasons. The prevalance of disability was found less than expected in Aydin. The main causes of disabilities were childhood diseases and accidents/injuries. Most of these reasons can be prevented majorly with primary and secondary prevention after birth.

Key words: Disability, disabled person, prevalance, prevention

Article Language: Turkish English