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[How to measure disability in children? Different methodologies, values and applications]
1Registre des handicaps de l'enfant et Observatoire périnatal, Grenoble, France.
Insights
Child impairment prevalence requires regular assessment for evaluating perinatal care. Current French studies focus on "at risk" children, highlighting a need for broader epidemiological research.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Public Health
- Epidemiology
Context:
- Infant mortality data alone are insufficient for evaluating perinatal care quality.
- Child impairment prevalence and long-term morbidity require regular assessment.
- Existing studies often lack geographically defined populations.
Purpose:
- To review and analyze different survey designs for child impairment registration.
- To assess the methodologies of cohort studies, follow-up studies, cross-sectional surveys, and morbidity registers.
- To identify gaps in current research regarding childhood impairment in France.
Summary:
- The paper examines various study designs (cohort, follow-up, cross-sectional, morbidity registers) for child impairment registration.
- Methodologies including study design, case ascertainment, validation, and reference populations are analyzed.
- French studies predominantly utilize follow-up of "at risk" children, lacking population-based scope.
Impact:
- Highlights the inadequacy of current data for comprehensive perinatal care evaluation.
- Underscores the need for larger, population-based epidemiological studies.
- Aims to inform future research strategies for better assessment of perinatal morbidity and care quality.
Abstract:
Infantile mortality data are insufficient for perinatal care evaluation. Long-term morbidity, particularly child impairment prevalence, needs to be assessed regularly. In this paper different surveys on child impairment registration published in the literature are examined: cohort studies, follow-up studies on "at risk" children, cross sectional surveys and morbidity registers. Study designs and case ascertainment are analysed as well as case validation and reference population. The consistency of the results is discussed. In France, most of the studies on childhood impairment are follow-up studies of at risk children, not concerning a geographically defined population, and there is a need for larger epidemiological studies in order to better assess perinatal morbidity and the quality of perinatal cares.