title: Comparing Health Status, Health Trajectories and Use of Health and Social Services between Children with and without Developmental Disabilities: A Population-based Longitudinal Study in Manitoba.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Little information exists on health of children with developmental disabilities (DDs) in the Canadian province of Manitoba.
  
  
  METHODS
  The present authors linked 12 years of administrative data and compared health status, changes in health and access to health and social services between children with (n = 1877) and without (n = 5661) DDs living in the province, matched by age, sex and region of residence.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Children with DDs were significantly more likely than children in the matched comparison group to die before the age of 17 and have a history of respiratory illness, diabetes and injury-related hospitalizations. Children with DD also had significantly higher average number of ambulatory physician visits and higher rate of continuity of care.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Children with DDs had poorer health status than the matched comparison group. The health disparities experienced by children with DDs persisted over time. Further population-based longitudinal research is needed in this area.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.|St. Amant Research Centre, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
authors.forename: Shahin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shooshtari
authors.affiliation: Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, Department of Community Health Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
authors.forename: Marni
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brownell
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
authors.forename: Rosemary S L
authors.initials: RSL
authors.lastname: Mills
authors.affiliation: Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, Department of Community Health Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dik
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
authors.forename: Dickie C T
authors.initials: DCT
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, Department of Community Health Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chateau
authors.affiliation: Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, Department of Community Health Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
authors.forename: Charles A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Burchill
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Social Sciences, Faculty of Human Ecology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wetzel
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006296:Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008350:Manitoba; D012947:Social Work; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: administrative data; children; developmental disabilities; health services utilization; health status; health trajectories