Disability as a component of public health in Primorsky Region

Introduction. Disability is an integral part of the state of public health. Almost everyone can have temporary or permanent health disorders. The significance of disability for society is determined by many determinants — the state of the health care system, the socio-economic level of development and the environmental situation in the region, historical and political root causes, as well as biological factors of the individual that determine the limitations of life and persistent disability.

The purpose of the study is to analyze disability in the Primorsky Krai as a criterion of public health.

Material and methods. The study used information about the disabled of the Primorsky Krai according to the Federal State Statistics Service, statistical data from the Federal Register of Disabled People and the main indicators of the Main Bureau of Medical and Social Expertise in the Primorsky Krai. Data processing was carried out using descriptive statistics methods.

Results. Over the past five years, the number of disabled people in Primorsky Krai has decreased (the decrease was 6,831 people or 6.1%), which can be explained by the gain in the number of doctors of all specialities (in 2017 by 0.74%, in 2019 by 2.32%), the death of older people over 60 years old, who are the most numerous category of disabled people (56.08%). In addition, the rules and criteria of medical and social expertise are being improved. The leading causes of disability among the adult population are malignant neoplasms (33.3%), diseases of the circulatory system (26.35%), diseases of the musculoskeletal system (8.26%). At the same time, the number of disabled children is growing, especially at the age of 7–17 years (705 people). The causes of childhood disability are mental disorders (26.78%), congenital anomalies and deformities (21.96%), diseases of the nervous system (15.81%). The increase in the number of disabled children is explained by an increase in the quality of medical care for pregnant women and premature babies.

Conclusion. Primorsky Krai has one of the lowest rates of disability of the accumulated contingent, primary and repeated disability, as well as child disability.