Children With Special Health Care Needs: Child Health and Functioning Outcomes and Health Care Service Use

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Health
• Healthcare Services Research
• Technology-Dependent Children

Background:

• Medically complex technology-dependent children require specialized care.
• Understanding health, functioning, and service use is crucial for this population.
• Condition severity impacts health outcomes and resource utilization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe health, functioning, and healthcare service use in medically complex technology-dependent children.
• To compare these outcomes across different levels of condition severity (moderately disabled, severely disabled, vegetative state).
• To highlight the importance of the advanced practice nurse care coordinator role.

Main Methods:

• Monthly data collection over 5 months.
• Utilized the Pediatric Quality of Life Generic Core Module 4.0 Parent-Proxy Report.
• Assessed health care service use including office visits, ED visits, hospitalizations, therapies, medications, and devices.

Main Results:

• Significant differences in physical health were observed across condition severity groups.
• Older children (severely disabled and vegetative states) used more medications, medical technology devices (MTDs), and assistive devices.
• Severely disabled and vegetative state children had similar, higher resource utilization compared to moderately disabled children.

Conclusions:

• The advanced practice nurse care coordinator is essential for the well-being of medically complex technology-dependent children.
• Condition severity is a key determinant of health status and healthcare service needs.
• Tailored care coordination is vital for optimizing health and functioning in this vulnerable population.