A combined survey of chronic disability in industrial employees.

Little is known about the numbers of disabled people employed in industry except for those registered with the Department of Employment and Productivity. A joint survey by six factory doctors covering 11,399 men aged 16 to 64 in seven companies is described. 1,233 men (10.8 per cent of the population) were identified as having chronic medical impairments which could affect working capacity. The prevalence rose from 3 per cent under the age of 25 to 28 per cent over the age of 60. Only one third of these men were officially registered and they were not representative of all the disabled either in terms of severity or of diagnosis. The commonest causes of disablement were chronic bronchitis and asthma, disorders of the spine, coronary heart disease and severe visual loss.