Racial Disparities in Developmental Delay Diagnosis and Services Received in Early Childhood

Autor: Alma D. Guerrero, Rebecca N. Dudovitz, Christopher Biely, Elizabeth S. Barnert, Paul J. Chung, Bergen B. Nelson, Abraham Gallegos, Peter G. Szilagyi, Tumaini R. Coker
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
medicine.medical_specialty
Longitudinal study
Pediatric Research Initiative
First language
education
Psychological intervention
early childhood longitudinal study birth cohort
Logistic regression
Pediatrics
Article
Paediatrics and Reproductive Medicine
03 medical and health sciences
Insurance
0302 clinical medicine
Child Development
Clinical Research
030225 pediatrics
Behavioral and Social Science
medicine
Humans
030212 general & internal medicine
Early childhood
Longitudinal Studies
Medical diagnosis
Healthcare Disparities
Child
Preschool
Minority Groups
Receipt
Pediatric
Insurance
Health

business.industry
Cognition
Health Services
Quality Education
developmental delay disparities
early intervention
Health
Child
Preschool

Family medicine
Pediatrics
Perinatology and Child Health

Educational Status
business
Zdroj: Academic pediatrics, vol 21, iss 7
Acad Pediatr
Popis: Background and Objective Racial disparities in diagnosis and receipt of services for early childhood developmental delay (DD) are well known but studies have had difficulties distinguishing contributing patient, healthcare system, and physician factors from underlying prevalence. We examine rates of physician diagnoses of DD by preschool and kindergarten entry controlling for a child's objective development via scoring on validated developmental assessment along with other child characteristics. Methods We used data from the preschool and kindergarten entry waves of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort. Dependent variables included being diagnosed with DD by a medical provider and receipt of developmental services. Logistic regression models tested whether a child's race was associated with both outcomes during preschool and kindergarten while controlling for the developmental assessments, as well as other contextual factors. Results Among 7950 children, 6.6% of preschoolers and 7.5% of kindergarteners were diagnosed with DD. Of preschool children with DD, 66.5% were receiving developmental services, while 69.1% of kindergarten children with DD were receiving services. Children who were Black, Asian, spoke a primary language other than English and had no health insurance were less likely to be diagnosed with DD despite accounting for cognitive ability. Black and Latinx children were less likely to receive services. Conclusions Racial minority children are less likely to be diagnosed by their pediatric provider with DD and less likely to receive services despite accounting for a child's objective developmental assessment. The pediatric primary care system is an important target for interventions to reduce these disparities.
Databáze: OpenAIRE