Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Epidemiology and Health Systems Research, Medical University of South Carolina, 165 Ashley Ave, Charleston, SC 29425, USA.
Prev Chronic Dis. 2012;9:E111. doi: 10.5888/pcd9.110333. Epub 2012 Jun 7.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends a schedule of age-specific well-child visits through age 21 years. For children insured by Medicaid, these visits are called Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment (EPSDT). These visits are designed to promote physical, emotional, and cognitive health. Six visits are recommended for the first year of life, 3 for the second year. We hypothesized that children with the recommended visits in the first 2 years of life would be more likely than others to be ready for school when they finish kindergarten.
We studied children insured by Medicaid in South Carolina, born during 2000 through 2002 (n = 21,998). Measures included the number of EPSDT visits in the first 2 years of life and an assessment of school readiness conducted at the end of kindergarten. We used logistic regression to examine the adjusted association between having the recommended visits and school readiness, controlling for characteristics of mothers, infants, prenatal care and delivery, and residence area.
Children with the recommended visits had 23% higher adjusted odds of being ready for school than those with fewer visits.
EPSDT may contribute to school readiness for children insured by Medicaid. Children having fewer than the recommended EPSDT visits may benefit from school readiness programs.
美国儿科学会建议制定一个特定年龄段的健康儿童就诊时间表，直至 21 岁。对于参加医疗补助计划（Medicaid）的儿童，这些就诊被称为早期和定期筛查、诊断和治疗（EPSDT）。这些就诊旨在促进儿童的身体、情感和认知健康。建议在生命的第一年进行 6 次就诊，第二年进行 3 次。我们假设在生命的前两年接受推荐就诊的儿童在完成幼儿园时更有可能为上学做好准备。
我们研究了南卡罗来纳州参加医疗补助计划的儿童，他们出生于 2000 年至 2002 年（n=21998）。测量指标包括在生命的前 2 年接受 EPSDT 就诊的次数，以及在幼儿园结束时进行的学校准备情况评估。我们使用逻辑回归来检查接受推荐就诊与学校准备情况之间的调整关联，控制了母亲、婴儿、产前保健和分娩以及居住地区的特征。
接受推荐就诊的儿童比接受较少就诊的儿童准备上学的调整后几率高 23%。
EPSDT 可能有助于参加医疗补助计划的儿童为上学做好准备。接受的 EPSDT 就诊次数少于推荐次数的儿童可能受益于学校准备计划。
