Special Healthcare Needs in Children Associated With Food Insufficiency, Emergency Room Visits

Children with special healthcare needs are more likely to experience household food insufficiency, less-than-excellent health status and increased emergency room visits compared with other children, according to a new AHRQ-funded study published in Public Health Nutrition. Further, the study found that these special needs children, defined as those at increased risk for chronic physical, developmental, behavioral or emotional conditions, experience these higher risks despite being slightly more likely to have health insurance coverage than children without special needs. Researchers examined data for nearly 72,000 children aged 0–17 years, including about 16,300 children with special needs. They suggested that policy solutions aimed at addressing social ills may be needed to support this vulnerable population. Access the abstract.

Household Food Insufficiency, Health Status and Emergency Healthcare Utilisation Among Children With and Without Special Healthcare Needs

Rajan A Sonik 1, Alisha Coleman-Jensen 2, Susan L Parish 3

Affiliations

PMID: 32515724
DOI: 10.1017/S1368980020000361

Abstract

Objective: To compare exposure to household food insufficiency and the relationship between household food insufficiency and both health status and emergency healthcare utilisation among children with and without special healthcare needs (SHCN).

Design: Analysing pooled data from the 2016-2017 iterations of the National Survey of Children's Health, we conducted multivariate logistic regressions on household food insufficiency, health status and emergency healthcare utilisation. We assessed interactions between household food insufficiency and children's SHCN status in our models of health status and utilisation.

Setting: United States.

Participants: Parents of a nationally representative sample of non-institutionalised children (aged 0-17 years).

Results: Children with SHCN were more likely to experience household food insufficiency (70 v. 56 %), non-excellent health status (67 v. 28 %) and emergency healthcare utilisation (32 v. 18 %) than other children. Household food insufficiency was associated with 37 % (children with SHCN) and 19 % (children without SHCN) reductions in the likelihood of having excellent health. Household food insufficiency was associated with a roughly equal (16-19 %) increase in the likelihood of emergency department utilisation across groups.

Conclusions: Compared with other children, children with SHCN have an elevated risk of exposure to household food insufficiency and experiencing greater reductions in health status when exposed.

Keywords: Children; Food insufficiency; Health status; Healthcare utilisation; Special healthcare needs.