September 2022 – This article published in Frontiers for Public Health reports on a comparative analysis done on the prevalence estimates of disabilities among children and adolescents younger than 20 years as reported by the world’s leading organizations for global health statistics. The authors purposively searched the disability reports and databases of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank and the Global Burden of Diseases (GBD) Study. They analyzed the latest disability data reported by these organizations since 2015. They also examined the methodologies adopted in generating the reported prevalence estimates and evaluated the degree of agreement among the data sources.
Prevalence estimates of disabilities among children and adolescents generated using either functional approach or statistical modeling appear to be comparable and complementary. Improved alignment of the age-groups, thresholds of disability and the estimation process across databases, particularly among children under 5 years should be considered. The authors advocate for complementary data sources to optimize their health and well-being as envisioned in the SDGs.