Children with Special Healthcare Needs in the United States

Children with Special Healthcare Needs (CSHCN) are defined by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau as:

There are a wide variety of physical, mental, and psychological health conditions considered to be special healthcare needs in the United States. They range from relatively mild to chronic and severe. The functional impairments of CSHCN include problems with one or more of the following criteria: breathing, swallowing/digestion/metabolism, blood circulation, chronic pain, hearing even with corrective devices, seeing even with corrective devices, taking care of self, coordination/moving around, learning/understanding/paying attention, speaking/communicating, making/keeping friends, and behavior. The list below states health conditions considered to be special healthcare needs.

As of 2009, 15.1% of all children in the US are considered to have special healthcare needs, and one out of every five households in the United States has at least one child with special healthcare needs, representing a significant segment of the nation's population.

The prevalence of children with special healthcare needs in the population depends on several factors, including gender, age, socioeconomic level and family household education. In the National Survey of Children's Health Data in 2007, gender is the strongest predictor of special health care needs—about 60% of children with special health care needs are boys and 30% are girls. A study by Newacheck et al. found that age is also a strong predictor, as school-age children are found to be twice as likely as toddlers to require special needs care, and this prevalence continues to increase as children grow older. Families with income below the federal poverty level are 1/3 more likely to have children with special health care needs, and families with 12 or fewer years of education have increased prevalence of a child with SHCN as well. Family structure also correlates with this prevalence—for single-mother families are 40% more likely to have a CSHCN than two-parent households.

In a comprehensive study by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), using the 2007 National Survey of Children's Health data, it was found that children with SHCN when compared to those children without SHCN, face more inadequacies in healthcare, education, health of family, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. CSHCN face more difficulties with accessing mental health care as well as having a medical home. A medical home is one of the standards of administering healthcare recommended by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau. In school, these children have an increased risk of missing class, being disengaged in the classroom, and repeating a grade. They also have more cases of inadequate sleep every night in comparison to their peers. CSHCN are more likely to not exercise the recommended four times a week, and they have higher chance of being overweight/obese. They also face increased challenges in making friends. The parents of CSHCN have challenges as well. The study by HRSA, found that the parents of special needs children experience more stress, decreased health, and more questioning of their parenting skills.

...
Wikipedia