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Published on: August 7, 2017
A prospective study of absence for illness and injury in childcare children
L M Slack-Smith1, A W Read, F J Stanley
1School of Population Health, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Australia. lindas@cyllene.uwa.edu.au
Insights
Childhood respiratory illness is the primary cause of absences from formal childcare settings. Understanding these absence patterns is crucial for addressing childcare needs.
Area of Science:
- Child Health
- Pediatrics
- Public Health
Background:
- Formal childcare settings, including centre-based day care and family day care homes, are critical environments for early childhood development.
- Childhood illnesses frequently lead to absences from childcare, impacting both child development and parental work.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe the patterns and rates of absences due to illness and other reasons in two formal childcare settings.
- To identify the primary causes of childcare absences.
Main Methods:
- A prospective, population-based study involving 11 centre day care facilities and 130 family day care caregivers.
- Absence data collected from caregivers and parent questionnaires for 846 children.
Main Results:
- Respiratory illness was the leading cause of absence, affecting 48% of children at least once annually.
- Absence rates were higher in centre care (3.34 episodes/52 child-weeks) than family care (2.41 episodes/52 child-weeks), though not statistically significant.
Conclusions:
- Respiratory illness is the predominant reason for childcare absences.
- Analyzing childcare absence patterns provides valuable insights into the needs of childcare services and the children attending them.
Objectives:
This population-based study investigated prospectively collected absence episodes to describe patterns and rates of absences for illness and other reasons in two types of formal childcare.
Design:
Centre day care and family day care homes were selected at random from licensing lists. All centres (n = 11) and 95% of family day care caregivers (n = 130) agreed to participate. The results are based on absence information from carers and on questionnaires to the parents of participating children (n = 846).
Results:
The major reason for absence was respiratory illness with 48% of all children absent at least once during the year with some form of respiratory illness. Although the absence rate for children in centre care was higher than that in family care (3.34 episodes per 52 child-weeks compared with 2.41), the difference was not statistically significant.
Conclusion:
Investigating patterns of absences from childcare allows a better understanding of needs in childcare. The major reason for absence for illness was respiratory illness.
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