Disabled persons' families. Some preliminary results for the Basque Country from the "Disabilities, Deficiencies and Health Survey of 1999"

Introduction: the main objective of the present study was to analyse the relationship between disabled people and their immediate environment, the family and household, since it is believed that absolute independence of individuals from their material and social environment is not possible. The family environment provides most of the support given to people requiring special care. Material and methods: we performed a cross-sectional, descriptive study using the "Disabilities, Deficiencies and Health Survey" carried out by the National Statistics Institute in 1999. The effects of disabilities on people who live in family households, as well as the kind of help they receive and the characteristics of their helpers, were studied. Results: one of the factors affecting disability is age. Disability is very uncommon in young people and increases with age, and is highly frequent at older ages. The differences in life expectancy between men and women make elderly, widowed women the most likely individuals to be disabled. Conclusions: many of the disabled live alone and do not receive special personal care. This confirms that disability is not synonymous with dependence. The care these individuals require is generally supplied by relatives, and the most likely caregivers are women aged over 50 years.