National survey of children with special health care needs: Wisconsin-specific data

The National Center for Health Statistics developed and conducted (2000-2002) the National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN), a module of the State and Local Area Integrated Telephone Survey (SLAITS).

The purpose of this paper is to present the Wisconsin-specific data derived from analysis of the national survey and to make a comparison with the United States as a whole.

In Wisconsin, approximately one fifth (21%) of households have CSHCN, and 13.4% of children have a special health care need; US comparison data are 20% and 12.8%, respectively. When examined by type of special need, Wisconsin shows slightly higher proportions of CSHCN in all categories, when compared with U.S. data, with the exception of limitation in activity. Families in Wisconsin with CSHCN are more likely to report being involved with medical decision making and satisfied with services they receive (67%); having a medical home (57%); having adequate insurance; easy use of community-based service systems (81%); and receiving services to make transition to adult life (7.5%).

Though Wisconsin has a slightly higher proportion of CSHCN than the United States as a whole, a greater proportion of Wisconsin families receive important services. These measurements allow us to strive for further improvement through coordination of services in the private health care delivery sector with public health programs.