title: Presence of medical home and school attendance: an analysis of the 2005-2006 National Survey of Children With Special Healthcare Needs.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Children with special healthcare needs (CSHCN) tend to miss more school because of illness. Medical homes are a model of primary health care that coordinate services to better meet the needs of the child. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between presence of medical home and missed school days among CSHCN.
  
  
  METHODS
  A secondary analysis of cross-sectional data from the 2005 National Survey of Children With Special Healthcare Needs (NS-CSHCN) was conducted. Multivariate ordinal logistic regression was done to analyze the relationship between presence of a medical home and number of missed school days.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The presence of a medical home among CSHCN was associated with being in the highest category of missed school days. The adjusted odds ratios for the number of missed school days, after adjustment for poverty, metropolitan statistical area status, education in the household, age, race and ethnicity, demonstrated that access to a medical home does not decrease school absences.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although the data did not support the hypothesis that CSHCN with a medical home would have fewer missed school days due to illness, this study does evoke future research questions, such as what is the relationship between parental perception of child health status with number of missed school days and how adequate is the communication between families and healthcare providers in the medical home.
authors: Valley Community Clinic, General Medicine, 6801 Coldwater Canyon Avenue, North Hollywood, CA 91605, USA. kawillit@gmail.com
authors: Kathryn A
authors: KA
authors: Willits
authors: Meredith L
authors: ML
authors: Troutman-Jordan
authors: Mary A
authors: MA
authors: Nies
authors: Elizabeth F
authors: EF
authors: Racine
authors: Elena
authors: E
authors: Platonova
authors: Henry L
authors: HL
authors: Harris
mesh_terms: D000041:Absenteeism; D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002140:California; D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019988:Children with Disabilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D020380:Needs Assessment; D016017:Odds Ratio; D018802:Patient-Centered Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011203:Poverty; D012016:Reference Values; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012572:School Health Services; D012737:Sex Factors; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*