Health service planning requires information on levels of health and illness in the population. Surveys, such as the British General Household Survey (GHS) rely on self-reports of health, illness and restriction, but interpretation of results is problematic. Multi-item measures such as the...

The problems presented by dependency groups have become a key issue for health care and social policy in all advanced countries. Providers and policy makers have looked to researchers to develop and apply measures of dependency which will provide a basis for rational planning and service...