Acute illnesses in children. A description and analysis of the cumulative incidence proportion

To describe parent-reported morbidity in relation to the psycho-social conditions of the families and to characterize families whose children are frequently ill.

The parent-reported morbidity in a two-month prospective period, and the psychosocial conditions of the families were registered by means of a questionnaire. The conditioned probability of parents' reporting an episode of illness was estimated by means of logistic regression analysis, taking the psycho-social conditions into consideration.

18,949 families with at least one child under the age of 8 years, resident in the County of Ringkjøbing in western Denmark at 1 March 1988.

An age-stratified random sample of 1982 families was entered in the study. 1588 (82%) families returned the questionnaire.

The parents reported considerable morbidity in their children. The cumulative incidence proportion (CIP) for the period was 48%. The multivariate analysis of the parent-reported morbidity led to the following main results: 1) the morbidity was greatest for children aged 6 to 18 months, after which it decreased with age, 2) there was interaction between the care conditions and the child's age--CIP for children up to two years was largest for the children who were cared for in daycare, while the CIP for the older children was largest for the children who were cared for at home, 3) if the parents reported that the child's siblings suffered from chronic or frequently recurring morbidity, the child's morbidity rate was significantly increased, 4) mothers with higher education reported more morbidity in their children than mothers without this education, and 5) parents with a high perception of the general health threat ("worried" parents) reported more morbidity than did parents with a low perception.

The results made it possible to characterize families whose children were frequently reported ill.