Disability due to ophthalmic pathology in Ukraine and Dnipro region (2018-2022). Modern approaches to determining the status of “person with disability”

Taking into account the social significance of the problem of ophthalmic diseases and their consequences, the aim of the study was to study the dynamics and structure of indicators of primary disability due to ophthalmic pathology in the Dnipropetrovsk region and Ukraine and to investigate current world scientific trends in determining the status of “person with disability” from the standpoint of the International Classification of Functioning. The methods of parametric and nonparametric statistics were used. It has been determined that the state of primary disability indicators in the Dnipro region and in Ukraine reflects the prevalence of certain ophthalmic pathologies in the country and in the world. The main causes of newly recognized persons with disabilities due to ophthalmic pathology during the study period of 2018-2022 in the Dnipro region and in Ukraine were: glaucoma; fundus pathology; consequences of trauma; degenerative (complicated) myopia and optic nerve atrophy. The epidemiological indicators are also similar in the Dnipropetrovsk region and in Ukraine, in particular, it was found that the vast majority of people were men (up to 56%); urban residents (about 60%); people of working age (about 80%), among whom only 25% continued to work. Today, in Ukraine, as in other countries, there is no unified degree assessment systems of disability for people with visual impairments. In this regard, further scientific work is needed to develop standardized approaches to classification approaches to impairments in the daily functioning of persons with ophthalmic diseases that lead to disability. For the first time in Ukraine, the study proposes new methodological approaches to determining the correspondence of medical signs of disability to certain social signs, in particular, the domains of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. Additional application of the ICF, as a new national classifier, in medical practice and the work of social and pedagogical workers will allow for a more detailed description of the problems faced by persons with visual impairment in everyday life and a detailed definition of their impairment in daily functioning.