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Capturing Unmet Therapy Need Among Young Children With Developmental Delay Using National Survey Data
Dawn Magnusson1, Mari Palta2, Beth McManus3
1Department of Population Health Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wis.
Academic Pediatrics
|July 18, 2015
Summary
Many children with developmental delay (DD) have unmet therapy needs that go unrecognized by parents. This study highlights disparities and the underestimation of needs when relying solely on parent reports for therapy services.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Developmental Pediatrics
- Health Services Research
Background:
- Parental reports may underestimate unmet therapy needs in children with developmental delay (DD).
- Children with DD often require physical, occupational, or speech therapy services.
- Identifying unrecognized needs is crucial for equitable access to care.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify children with DD likely needing therapy.
- To estimate the prevalence of overall unmet therapy need.
- To examine factors linked to unrecognized and parent-reported unmet therapy needs.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from the 2009-2010 National Survey of Children With Special Health Care Needs (NS-CSHCN).
- Applied criteria for DD to children aged 0-4 years.
- Employed multivariate logistic regression to analyze factors associated with unmet therapy needs.
Main Results:
- Over half (50.2%) of children with special health care needs aged 0-4 met DD criteria; 21.6% had overall unmet therapy needs.
- Unrecognized therapy needs affected 15.4% of children, while parent-reported unmet needs were 6.2%.
- Black, Hispanic, and other racial/ethnic children had higher odds of unrecognized needs; those lacking special education services had higher odds of parent-reported unmet needs.
Conclusions:
- Parent-reported data likely underestimates the true prevalence of unmet therapy needs in children with DD.
- Racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities exist in unmet therapy needs.
- Further research into disparities is needed to improve therapy access for children with DD.
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