Newacheck P W
Institute for Health Policy Studies, University of California-San Francisco.
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1994 Nov;148(11):1143-9. doi: 10.1001/archpedi.1994.02170110029005.
To present national estimates of the prevalence and impact of chronic conditions for children from poor and nonpoor families by using data from the 1988 National Health Interview Survey.
Proxy responses to a checklist of child health conditions administered for 17,110 children younger than 18 years were used. Conditions were classified as chronic if they were first noticed more than 3 months before the interview or if they were the type that would ordinarily be of extended duration, such as arthritis.
While nonpoor families were more likely than poor families to report chronic conditions for their children, children from poor families exhibited a higher risk of experiencing severe chronic conditions. Children with chronic conditions from poor families also experienced substantial barriers to care; they were 118% more likely to be uninsured than were children from nonpoor families and 42% more likely to lack a usual source of care. Children with chronic conditions from poor families were found to use fewer ambulatory care services but more inpatient hospital care than their nonpoor counterparts.
Children from poor families experience chronic health problems that are inadequately addressed by our existing health care system.
利用1988年全国健康访谈调查的数据，呈现贫困和非贫困家庭儿童慢性病患病率及影响的全国估计值。
采用对17110名18岁以下儿童的儿童健康状况清单的代理回复。如果疾病在访谈前3个月以上首次被发现，或者是通常持续时间较长的类型，如关节炎，则被归类为慢性病。
虽然非贫困家庭比贫困家庭更有可能报告其子女患有慢性病，但贫困家庭的儿童患严重慢性病的风险更高。贫困家庭患有慢性病的儿童在获得医疗服务方面也面临巨大障碍；他们未参保的可能性比非贫困家庭的儿童高118%，缺乏常规医疗服务来源的可能性高42%。研究发现，贫困家庭患有慢性病的儿童比非贫困家庭的儿童使用的门诊医疗服务更少，但住院医疗服务更多。
贫困家庭的儿童面临慢性健康问题，而我们现有的医疗保健系统对此处理不足。
