User satisfaction with assistive technologies: application of the ICF-checklist and QUEST on a group of Afghan disabled.

A survey on user satisfaction of 30 disabled Afghans with technology devices was performed by the group on cross-cultural disability study of University of Rome "La Sapienza". According to the new perspectives of ICF (WHO, 2001) the biopsychosocial model of disability was adopted in order to assess the interaction among body, personal, and environmental dimensions of disability. Methodology: 30 subjects (15 male, 15 female) were tested on June 2002 at the rehabilitation centre of the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) of Kabul. Two tests were administered: the ICF-Checklist in order to codify the "components" of disability, and the QUEST (Demers, L., Weiss-Lambrou, R., and Ska, B., 1997), aimed at assessing the user satisfaction by means of a questionnaire. Results: Almost 100% of the interviewed faced environmental barriers, lack of educational and support programs, as well as employment prospects. Discrimination was considered a great obstacle to participate in the full range of social roles and ways of living, especially by women.