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Prevalence of activity limiting chronic conditions among children based on household interviews
Insights
Over 2 million children experience activity limitations due to chronic conditions, impacting daily life and healthcare use. Leading causes include respiratory and mental health disorders, highlighting a significant public health concern.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Public Health
- Health Services Research
Background:
- Chronic conditions affect over 2 million children under 17 in the U.S., causing activity limitations.
- These limitations range from school/play absence to reduced social/athletic participation.
- Children with activity limitations consume disproportionately high healthcare resources.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the prevalence and causes of activity limitations in children.
- To examine the healthcare resource utilization by children with activity limitations.
- To assess the utility of household interviews for measuring activity limitations.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of micro data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS).
- Identification of leading causes of activity limitation in children.
- Comparison of healthcare service utilization between children with and without activity limitations.
Main Results:
- Respiratory diseases, impairments (speech, special sense, intelligence), and mental/nervous system disorders are leading causes, accounting for 50% of limitations.
- Children with activity limitations use over twice the physician services and over seven times the hospital services compared to peers.
- Household interviews are useful for prevalence assessment but the concept of activity limitation is subjective.
Conclusions:
- Chronic conditions significantly impact children's daily activities and necessitate substantial healthcare resources.
- Targeted interventions for leading causes of childhood activity limitations are warranted.
- While valuable, the subjective nature of activity limitation reporting requires careful consideration in research.
Abstract:
According to data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) over two million children under 17 years (3.8%) are afflicted by chronic conditions that cause some limitation of activity. The limitations range from complete inability to attend school for school age children or inability to engage in play for preschoolers to limited ability to engage in athletics or other social activities. Analysis of micro data from the NHIS reveals that the leading causes of activity limitation include: respiratory diseases; speech, special sense and intelligence related impairments; and mental and nervous system disorders. Together these conditions account for 50% of all childhood activity limitations. Despite their small numbers, children with activity limitations are reported by the NHIS to consume a disproportionate share of health care resources, including over twice as many physician services and over seven times as many hospital services as other children. Household interviews appear to be a useful vehicle for assessing prevalence of activity limitations but researchers and others should be cautioned about the subjective nature of the activity limitation concept.