Premium
Comparing Health Status, Health Trajectories and Use of Health and Social Services between Children with and without Developmental Disabilities: A Population‐based Longitudinal Study in Manitoba
Author(s) -
Shooshtari Shahin,
Brownell Marni,
Mills Rosemary S. L.,
Dik Natalia,
Yu Dickie C. T.,
Chateau Dan,
Burchill Charles A.,
Wetzel Monika
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.056
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1468-3148
pISSN - 1360-2322
DOI - 10.1111/jar.12253
Subject(s) - residence , longitudinal study , medicine , gerontology , population , demography , health care , environmental health , pathology , sociology , economics , economic growth
Background Little information exists on health of children with developmental disabilities ( DD s) in the Canadian province of Manitoba. Method The present authors linked 12 years of administrative data and compared health status, changes in health and access to health and social services between children with ( n = 1877) and without ( n = 5661) DD s living in the province, matched by age, sex and region of residence. Results Children with DD s were significantly more likely than children in the matched comparison group to die before the age of 17 and have a history of respiratory illness, diabetes and injury‐related hospitalizations. Children with DD also had significantly higher average number of ambulatory physician visits and higher rate of continuity of care. Conclusions Children with DD s had poorer health status than the matched comparison group. The health disparities experienced by children with DD s persisted over time. Further population‐based longitudinal research is needed in this area.