The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released a report showing that one in five Americans has a disability.
The study identified the top five disabilities of most Americans which include disability in mobility (13 percent), cognition (10.6 percent), independent living (6.5 percent), vision (4.6 percent), and self-care (3.6 percent). Overall, about 22 percent of the American adults or 53 million people have a disability.
The CDC researchers looked at the data collected from 2013 to determine the most common disability in the United States, as well as the number of people affected in each state.
The analysis showed that there are more disabled women than men from the south. The rate is also higher among older adults. There are fewer reported disabilities in the west than other regions.
On a state level analysis, the researchers found that the rate of disability is highest in Alabama (32.5 percent) while the lowest is in Minnesota (16.4 percent).
"We know disability types and related challenges can vary," Elizabeth Courtney-Long, a health scientist with CDC's National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, said to the USA Today. "In order to understand and address their needs, we need to understand their diverse circumstances. This report provides a snapshot into that."
The researchers linked the variations of the disability rates among states to education and income level. The data showed that 40 percent of those who had less than a high school education have a disability. Nearly 47 percent of those who earn less than $15,000 per year also have a disability. Unemployment is also a risk because one-third of the unemployed adults reported a disability too, according to HealthDay News.
The findings will allow researchers and policymakers to come up with new and better interventions that would help improve the lives and health of people with disabilities. The health care cost of people with disabilities reached nearly $400 billion in 2006, mostly spent on institutional care and personal-care services.
The findings were published in the July 31 issue of CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
