Centre for Community Child Health, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2012 May;33(4):319-27. doi: 10.1097/DBP.0b013e31824a7b8e.
Children with special health care needs are an important population for educational and health service providers. Accurate information about the prevalence and characteristics of these children and their families is needed to inform the planning and development of systems of care, yet data in Australia are currently lacking.
This study utilizes population-level data from the Australian Early Development Index, a teacher-rated checklist, to provide estimates of the prevalence and developmental and demographic characteristics of Australian children with special health care needs on entrance to school.
Four percent of children were reported with established special health care needs, and a further 18% were identified by teachers as "of concern." These children showed higher rates of vulnerability across all domains of development. Although children with established special health care needs were represented across demographic profiles, proportions were greater among boys, those from lower socioeconomic status communities, and Indigenous and older children. In contrast, those living in more remote settings were as likely to be identified as "of concern" as their peers but were less likely to have established special health care needs.
These findings have important implications for service provision and policy development. There are substantial opportunities to reorient schooling and early childhood systems to better detect and accommodate the needs of these children.
有特殊医疗需求的儿童是教育和医疗服务提供者的重要群体。为了为护理系统的规划和发展提供信息，需要准确了解这些儿童及其家庭的流行情况和特征，但澳大利亚目前的数据尚不清楚。
本研究利用澳大利亚早期发展指数（Australian Early Development Index）的人口水平数据，这是一份教师评定的清单，以提供澳大利亚儿童入学时具有既定特殊医疗需求的儿童的流行情况以及发展和人口特征的估计。
有 4%的儿童被报告有既定的特殊医疗需求，另有 18%的儿童被教师确定为“有问题”。这些儿童在所有发展领域的脆弱性比率都较高。尽管有既定特殊医疗需求的儿童在人口特征方面都有代表，但在男孩、来自社会经济地位较低社区的儿童、土著儿童和年龄较大的儿童中比例更高。相比之下，那些居住在较偏远地区的儿童被确定为“有问题”的可能性与同龄人一样大，但他们更不可能有既定的特殊医疗需求。
这些发现对服务提供和政策制定具有重要意义。有大量机会重新调整学校和幼儿系统，以更好地发现和满足这些儿童的需求。
