Factors associated with chronic conditions among children in foster care.
The population of children in foster care is rapidly growing. Previous local and state-level analyses have measured the prevalence of chronic conditions among such children to be from 44%-82%. The study objective was to identify factors associated with chronic conditions among a nationally representative sample of children in foster care for one year. The authors analyzed data from The National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW), Wave 1, the first national dataset of children in the child welfare system. In regression analysis, factors significantly associated with having a chronic condition included: child age under 2 years, caregiver race/ethnicity other than Hispanic, and relatively few household members. Discussion includes consideration of chronic conditions in this high-risk population.
Jee
Sandra H
SH
Division of General Pediatrics and Strong Children Research Center, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, USA. Sandra_Jee@urmc.rochester.edu
Barth
Richard P
RP
Szilagyi
Moira A
MA
Szilagyi
Peter G
PG
Aida
Masahiko
M
Davis
Matthew M
MM
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017028:Caregivers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016021:Epidemiologic Studies; D005260:Female; D005581:Foster Home Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology