title: Adaptation of CSHCN instrument for the use in assessing the prevalence of chronic diseases in children and adolescents in Poland.
abstract: There are several methods for assessment the prevalence of chronic diseases among children and adolescents in population surveys. Recently developed consequence-based approach seems to be more powerful to identify individual impact of chronic condition on child and family by comparison to the traditional, disease-specific method. The aim of this study was to describe the structure and validity of parent-reported CSHCN (Children with Special Health Care Needs) questionnaire and to test the performance of this screener in Polish population of children who normally attend schools. The survey was conducted in KIDSCREEN project in 2003 on the sample of 1718 children aged 8-18 years. The overall prevalence of CSHCN was 14.5% (16.5% among boys and 13.5% among girls). CSHCN status was not related to age of child and there was a tendency to higher prevalence of chronic diseases in poor families. Urban residents and children of parents with higher education more often met overall CSHCN criteria. Children identified as CSHCN were more likely to report poor self-rated health and frequent visits to doctor, which underlines validity of this instrument. The Polish version of the CSHCN questionnaire seems to be a convenient instrument that should be applied in further population studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Health, Institute of Mother and Child Warsaw, Poland. joamazur@imid.med.pl
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mazur
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019988:Children with Disabilities / Q000145:classification / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D020380:Needs Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D011044:Poland / Q000453:epidemiology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D011594:Psychometrics; D055815:Young Adult