Healthy people 2010 leading health indicators: how children with special health care needs fared

Abstract

Objectives: We compared estimates for children with and without special health care needs (SHCN) at 2 time periods for national health objectives related to the Healthy People 2010 leading health indicators (LHIs).

Methods: Data were from the 2003 and 2007 National Surveys of Children's Health. Seven survey items were relevant to the LHIs and available in both survey years: physical activity, obesity, household tobacco use, current insurance, personal health care provider, past-month depressive symptoms, and past-year emergency department visits.

Results: In 2003 and 2007, children with SHCN fared worse than those without SHCN with respect to physical activity, obesity, household tobacco exposure, depressive symptomology, and emergency department visits, but fared better on current insurance and having a personal health care provider. Physical activity and access to a personal health care provider increased for all children, whereas the absolute disparity in personal provider access decreased 4.9%.

Conclusions: Significant disparities exist for key population health indicators between children with and without SHCN. Analyses illustrated how population-based initiatives could be used to frame health challenges among vulnerable populations.