Development of Standards of Disability in China and Comparison with Foreign Countries / 中国康复理论与实践

ABSTRACT

Objective:To discuss the technical standards of disability assessment in personal injury compensation in China, and to put forward the conception of standard construction. Methods:The disability assessment technical standards in China were systematically reviewed, as well as the contents of the United States Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (GEPI) and the United Kingdom Guidelines for the Assessment of General Compensation in Personal Injury Cases (GAGD). Results:There were six standards for disability assessment and three of them were commonly used in China at present, coming from different departments. There were some repeated, intertwined, contradictory contents. The disabilities were graded in ten grades, and the disability rate was difference of 10% between two successive grades. The determination of disability grades came from the consensus of specialists, and was little scientific. In comparison, GEPI was developed according to the ICF standards formulated by the World Health Organization, which contained continuous disability value instead of disability grade, along with the weight of organs to calculate synthetically. GEPI emphasizes objective indicators. GAGD directly gave the financial amount of disability compensation. Conclusion:It is needed to integrate the standard management departments of technical standards for disability assessment in China to link standards up; strengthen macro plan and establish the system table of forensic disability assessment standards; carry out international exchanges of technical standards and refer to the concept and data of foreign standards when revising standards.