Social identity and the International Classification of Handicaps: An evaluation of the consequences of facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy

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Abstract
The objective of this study was to evaluate the consequences of facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSH MD) using two different but complementary procedures: an analysis based on the three different dimensions of disablement developed by the WHO--impairment, disability, and handicap--and a study of the psychological repercussions on social identity. Sixty-eight individuals with FSH MD, with 68 members of a control group, responded to a battery of psychosocial questions. Individuals with muscular dystrophy were also studied with reference to the dimensions of impairment, disability and handicap. The results showed that there are close correlations among measures of the three dimensions of disablement. Evaluations made by people with muscular dystrophy of the seriousness of their own disablement are strongly linked to objective measures of impairment. Furthermore, we found that having muscular dystrophy does have certain consequences for an individual's self-identity, although the degree to which one's self-image is validated is to some extent independent of the seriousness of the illness.

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