ABSTRACT

Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify the comprehensive health status of the people with disabilities and the effect of factors related to individual health status on community participation. Methods: Data from 102 people with disabilities who had stroke and living in the local community were collected using a questionnaire. The questionnaire used the Korean version of the World Health Organization Disability Assessment to investigate the personal and environmental factors of health status, and the Korean version of community participation indicators were used to investigate level of community participation. In order to compare community participation based on general characteristics, t-test and one-way ANOVA were used. in addition, this study used Pearson correlation coefficient to determine the correlation between health status factors and community participation. For the effect of health status factors on community participation, hierarchical regression was used. Results: In terms of community participation based on general characteristics, significant difference was identified in study participants with high income, duration of disease of 1-5 years and more than 10 years, and without mobility equipment. For correlation between health status and community participation, significant correlation was identified. Hierarchal regression showed environmental factors as the variable having a significant effect on community participation with 28% explanatory power. Conclusion: For people with disabilities in the community, both personal and environmental factors of health status all had significant correlation with community participation, and the environmental factors were analyzed as the major variable. In order to increase community participation of stroke patients, development of programs considering environmental factors of people with disabilities and additional studies are needed.