The Unmet Health Needs of America's Children

Author:

Newacheck Paul W.12,Hughes Dana C.13,Hung Yun-Yi1,Wong Sabrina1,Stoddard Jeffrey J.4

Affiliation:

1. From the Institute for Health Policy Studies, the

2. Department of Pediatrics, the

3. Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of California, San Francisco; and the

4. Center for Studying Health System Change, Washington, DC.

Abstract

Objective. Unmet need for health care is a critical indicator of access problems. Among children, unmet need for care has special significance inasmuch as the failure to obtain treatment can affect health status and functioning in the near- and long-term. The purpose of this study was to present current prevalence estimates and descriptive characteristics of children with unmet health needs using nationally representative household survey data. Methods. We analyzed 4 years of National Health Interview Survey data spanning 1993 through 1996. Our analysis included 97 206 children <18 years old. Measures of unmet need for medical care, dental care, prescription medications, and vision care were obtained from an adult household member (usually the mother) responding for the child. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to assess the degree to which unmet need was related to the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the child and family. Results. Overall, 7.3% (4.7 million) of US children experienced at least 1 unmet health care need. Dental care was the most prevalent unmet need. After adjustment for confounding factors, near-poor and poor children were both about 3 times more likely to have an unmet need as nonpoor children (adjusted odds ratio [95% confidence interval] = 2.89 [2.52, 3.32], 3.0 [2.53, 3.56], respectively). Uninsured children were also about 3 times more likely to have an unmet need as privately insured children (adjusted odds ratio [95% confidence interval] = 2.92 [2.58, 3.32]). Conclusions. Despite the nation's great wealth, unmet health needs remain prevalent among US children. A combined public policy that addresses financial and nonfinancial barriers to care is required to reduce the prevalence of unmet need for health care.

Publisher

American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)

Subject

Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health

Reference18 articles.

1. The health of children.;Szilagyi;Health Serv Res.,1998

2. Impact of a children's health insurance program on newly enrolled children.;Lave;JAMA.,1996

3. The impact of lack of health insurance on children.;Lave;J Health Soc Policy.,1998

4. Preventive care use by school-aged children: differences by socioeconomic status.;Newacheck;Pediatrics.,1988

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3