Definition
Disability arises out of an individual’s inability to perform a task successfully because of an insufficiency in one or more areas of functional capability which include physical function, mental function, agility, dexterity, coordination, strength, endurance, knowledge, skill, intellectual ability, or experience. Disability (the inability to perform a task) has to be related to a specific health impairment or medical condition (e.g., aging). However, a medical condition or impairment may cause or contribute to disability (e.g., loss of an arm). This point is often overlooked since most “disability agencies” (e.g., Social Security Administration) require evidence of impairment in order to determine that an individual is disabled, and therefore...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
AMA. (2008). Conceptual foundations and philosophy. In R.D. Rondinelli (Ed.), Guides to the evaluation of permanent impairment (6th ed., pp. 1–18). Chicago, IL: American Medical Association.
AMA. (2009). Glossary. In R. D. Rondinelli (Ed.), Guides to the evaluation of permanent impairment (6th ed., pp. 609–616). Chicago, IL: American Medical Association.
Biddle, J., Roberts, K., Rosenman, K. D., et al. (1998). What percentage of workers with work-related illnesses receive workers’ compensation benefits? Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 40, 325–331.
Demeter, S. L., Andersson, G. B. J., & Smith, G. M. (2001). Disability evaluation. St. Louis, MO: Mosby.
Deyo, R. A., Diehl, A. K., & Rosenthal, M. (1986). How many days of bed rest for acute low back pain? A randomized clinical trial. The New England Journal of Medicine, 315, 1064–1070.
Fordyce, W. E., Brockway, J. A., Bergman, J. A., et al. (1986). Acute back pain: a control-group comparison of behavioral vs traditional management methods. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 9, 127–140.
Fordyce, W. E., Shelton, J. L., & Dundore, D. E. (1982). The modification of avoidance learning pain behaviors. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 5, 405–414.
Harris, I., Mulford, J., Solomon, M., van Gelder, J. M., & Young, J. (2005). Association between compensation status and outcome after surgery: A meta-analysis. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 293, 1644–1652.
Himmelstein, J. S., Feuerstein, M., Stanek, E. J., et al. (1995). Work related upper extremity disorders and work disability: Clinical and psychosocial presentation. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 37, 1278–1286.
Ladou, J. (2009). Federal Employees’ Compensation Act. International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, 15, 180–194.
Ladou, J. (2010). Workers’ compensation in the United States: Cost shifting and inequities in a dysfunctional system. New Solutions, 20, 291–302.
McHeil, M. (2001). In Americans with disabilities. Household economic studies (pp. 70–73). Washington, DC: United States Department of Commerce.
Melhorn, J. M. (1998). Management of work related upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders. Kansas Case Managers annual meeting (pp. 16–25). Wichita, KS: Wesley Rehabilitation Hospital.
Melhorn, J. M. (2002a). Cumulative Trauma Disorders (CTDs): The science, myths and folklore. In 16th annual scientific session. Chicago, IL: American Academy of Disability Evaluating Physicians.
Melhorn, J. M. (2002b). Understanding and managing chronic non-malignant pain for the occupational orthopaedists. In J. M. Melhorn & R. E. Strain Jr. (Eds.), Occupational orthopaedics and workers’ compensation: A multidisciplinary perspective. Rosemont, IL: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
Melhorn, J. M. (2010). Causation – Understanding why. In: 65th Annual Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference and 22nd Annual Safety & Health Conference (pp. 45–55). Orlando, FL: Florida Workers Compensation Institute.
Melhorn, J. M. (2011a). Unnecessary disability – Why can’t I work? In Impairment without disability. Rochester, MN: Mayo Clinic.
Melhorn, J. M. (2011b). Causation: Factually evaluating work-relatedness and injury-relatedness. In Advances skills course. Chicago, IL: American Academy of Disability Evaluating Physicians.
Melhorn, J. M. (2011c). Workers’ compensation: What’s your threshold? AAOS Now, 5, 11.
Melhorn, J. M. (2012). Chronic pain treatment – What works? In Effectively working within your workers’ compensation system. Sacramento, CA: California Orthopaedic Association.
Melhorn, J. M., Wilkinson, L. K., & O’Malley, M. D. (2001). Successful management of musculoskeletal disorders. J Hum Ecolog Risk Assessment, 7, 1801–1810.
Melhorn, J. M., Ackerman, W. E., Glass, L. S., & Deitz, D. C. (2008). Understanding work-relatedness. In J. M. Melhorn & W. E. Ackerman (Eds.), Guides to the evaluation of disease and injury causation (pp. 13–32). Chicago, IL: AMA Press.
Melhorn, J. M., Lazarovic, J., & Roehl, W. K. (2005). Do we have a disability epidemic? In R. J. Gatchel & I. Z. Schultz (Eds.), Handbook of complex occupational disability claims: Early risk identification, intervention and prevention. New York: Springer.
Nachemson, A. L. (1992). Newest knowledge of low back pain. A critical look. Clinical Orthopaedics, 13, 8–20.
Sikorski, J. M., Molan, R. R., & Askin, G. N. (1989). Orthopaedic basis for occupationally related arm and neck pain. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Surgery, 59, 471–478.
Sperka, P., Cherry, N., Burnham, R., & Beach, J. (2008). Impact of compensation on work outcome of carpal tunnel syndrome. Occupational Medicine (London), 58, 490–495.
Talmage, J. B., & Melhorn, J. M. (2005). How to think about work ability and work restrictions: Risk capacity, tolerance. In J. B. Talmage & M. JM (Eds.), A physician’s guide to return to work (pp. 7–19). Chicago, IL: AMA Press.
Turk, D. C., & Okifuji, A. (2001). Pain terms and taxonomies of pain. In Bonica’s management of pain (pp. 17–25). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. (1996). Survey of occupational injuries and illnesses in 1994. Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office.
World Health Organization. (2001). International classification of functioning, disability and health: ICF. New York, NY: Unites Nations.
Zeller, J. L., Burke, A. E., & Glass, R. M. (2007). JAMA patient page. Assessing disability. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 298, 2096.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this entry
Cite this entry
Melhorn, J.M. (2013). Disability, Upper Extremity. In: Gebhart, G.F., Schmidt, R.F. (eds) Encyclopedia of Pain. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28753-4_1134
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28753-4_1134
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-28752-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-28753-4
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences