Cross-sector service use patterns among children with developmental disabilities in a district in Canada

There is a lack of information about cross-sector service use by children with developmental disabilities despite their need for services from multiple sectors.

Responses to service use questions from a parent-completed survey on school-aged children who attended clinics specific for those with developmental disabilities at a Canadian children's hospital were examined.

School meetings were the most common of three professional meeting types attended in the last 12 months (64.9%) for the sample of 205 children. Recreational services were the most common of five service types received in the same time period (79.0%). Using ordinal logistic regression models, a higher number of behavioural difficulties was the only variable consistently related to indices of more meeting types (school, physician, other) attended and more service types received (recreation, respite, etc.).

The service relationship with behavioural problems, and not socio-demographic variables, is consistent with a needs-based oriented delivery system.