TY - JOUR
T1 - Chronic conditions among children investigated by child welfare
T2 - A national sample
AU - Stein, Ruth E.K.
AU - Hurlburt, Michael S.
AU - Heneghan, Amy M.
AU - Zhang, Jinjin
AU - Rolls-Reutz, Jennifer
AU - Silver, Ellen J.
AU - Fisher, Emily
AU - Landsverk, John
AU - Horwitz, Sarah Mc Cue
PY - 2013/3
Y1 - 2013/3
N2 - OBJECTIVE: To assess the presence of chronic health conditions (CHCs) among a nationally representative sample of children investigated by child welfare agencies. METHODS: The study included 5872 children, aged 0 to 17.5 years, whose families were investigated for maltreatment between February 2008 and April 2009. Using data from the second National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being, we examined the proportion of children who had CHC. We developed 2 categorical and 2 noncategorical measures of CHC from the available data and analyzed them by using bivariate and multivariable analyses. RESULTS: Depending on the measure used, 30.6% to 49.0% of all children investigated were reported by their caregivers to have a CHC. Furthermore, the children identified by using diverse methods were not entirely overlapping. In the multivariable analyses, children with poorer health were more likely to be male, older, and receiving special educational services but not more likely to be in out-of-home placements. CONCLUSIONS: The finding that a much higher proportion of these children have CHC than in the general population underscores the substantial health problems of children investigated by child welfare agencies and the need to monitor their health carefully, regardless of their placement postinvestigation.
AB - OBJECTIVE: To assess the presence of chronic health conditions (CHCs) among a nationally representative sample of children investigated by child welfare agencies. METHODS: The study included 5872 children, aged 0 to 17.5 years, whose families were investigated for maltreatment between February 2008 and April 2009. Using data from the second National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being, we examined the proportion of children who had CHC. We developed 2 categorical and 2 noncategorical measures of CHC from the available data and analyzed them by using bivariate and multivariable analyses. RESULTS: Depending on the measure used, 30.6% to 49.0% of all children investigated were reported by their caregivers to have a CHC. Furthermore, the children identified by using diverse methods were not entirely overlapping. In the multivariable analyses, children with poorer health were more likely to be male, older, and receiving special educational services but not more likely to be in out-of-home placements. CONCLUSIONS: The finding that a much higher proportion of these children have CHC than in the general population underscores the substantial health problems of children investigated by child welfare agencies and the need to monitor their health carefully, regardless of their placement postinvestigation.
KW - Child welfare investigation
KW - Chronic conditions
KW - Disparities
KW - Foster care
KW - Health status
KW - Mental health
KW - NSCAW
KW - National survey of child and adolescent well-being
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84874613641&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84874613641&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1542/peds.2012-1774
DO - 10.1542/peds.2012-1774
M3 - Article
C2 - 23420907
AN - SCOPUS:84874613641
SN - 0031-4005
VL - 131
SP - 455
EP - 462
JO - Pediatrics
JF - Pediatrics
IS - 3
ER -