title: Chronic conditions among children investigated by child welfare: a national sample.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the presence of chronic health conditions (CHCs) among a nationally representative sample of children investigated by child welfare agencies.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study included 5872 children, aged 0 to 17.5 years, whose families were investigated for maltreatment between February 2008 and April 2009. Using data from the second National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being, we examined the proportion of children who had CHC. We developed 2 categorical and 2 noncategorical measures of CHC from the available data and analyzed them by using bivariate and multivariable analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Depending on the measure used, 30.6% to 49.0% of all children investigated were reported by their caregivers to have a CHC. Furthermore, the children identified by using diverse methods were not entirely overlapping. In the multivariable analyses, children with poorer health were more likely to be male, older, and receiving special educational services but not more likely to be in out-of-home placements.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The finding that a much higher proportion of these children have CHC than in the general population underscores the substantial health problems of children investigated by child welfare agencies and the need to monitor their health carefully, regardless of their placement postinvestigation.
authors: Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Children's Hospital at Montefiore, Bronx, NY 10461, USA. ruth.stein@einstein.yu.edu
authors: Ruth E K
authors: RE
authors: Stein
authors: Michael S
authors: MS
authors: Hurlburt
authors: Amy M
authors: AM
authors: Heneghan
authors: Jinjin
authors: J
authors: Zhang
authors: Jennifer
authors: J
authors: Rolls-Reutz
authors: Ellen J
authors: EJ
authors: Silver
authors: Emily
authors: E
authors: Fisher
authors: John
authors: J
authors: Landsverk
authors: Sarah McCue
authors: SM
authors: Horwitz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D002669:Child Welfare / Q000639:trends; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000639:trends; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult