ABSTRACT
Disability is a commonly used, frequently undefined and diversely measured construct. It is a term in common discourse as well as belonging in many academic and applied disciplines including sociology, psychology, medicine, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, social policy, health economics and health services research. The use of the construct suggests varying underlying representations of disability in terms of its content and cause, but these are not always reflected in the theoretical models proposed nor in the measurement approaches adopted. These representations have influenced the research in the field, but have not influenced the development of models of disability.
