263891 Family Characteristics of Young Children with Intellectual Disability in the United States

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Erika Rose Cheng, MPA , Department of Population Health Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
Whitney P. Witt, PhD, MPH , Department of Population Health Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
Background: Childhood intellectual disability (ID) affects long-term child health and can place substantial burden on the family. This study sought to assesses the health and family characteristics of young children with and without ID and identify risk factors for ID in early childhood using a nationally-representative cohort.

Methods: Data are from 8,490 infants participating in the 9-month wave of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort. ID was defined by the lowest 10% of mental scale scores from the Bayley Short Form-Research Edition. Descriptive statistics compared the distribution of family and child factors by ID status. Multivariable logistic regression estimated the odds of ID in early childhood, with a specific focus on sociodemographic and maternal health characteristics.

Results: 8.6% of infants had ID at 9 months. Infants with ID were more likely to be male, born small-for-gestational age (SGA) or low birthweight (LBW), have a chronic health condition (CHC), and live in poverty. Mothers of children with ID were more likely to report depressive symptoms and be in poor health than mothers of children without ID. In multivariable analyses, maternal depressive symptoms (OR=1.4; 95% CI=1.1-1.7), CHC (OR=2.4; 95% CI=1.8-3.0), and LBW (OR=4.3; 95% CI=3.4-5.4), but not socioeconomic factors, were associated with ID.

Conclusions: A substantial percentage of young children in the US have ID. Mothers of infants with ID have worse health outcomes than mothers of infants without ID. Gestational and maternal health characteristics, but not socioeconomic factors, are associated with an increased risk for ID among young children.

Learning Areas:
Epidemiology

Learning Objectives:
Assesses the health and family characteristics of young children with and without intellectual disability and identify risk factors for intellectual disability in early childhood using a nationally-representative, population-based contemporary cohort of US families.

Keywords: Children With Special Needs, Disability

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a Doctoral candidate at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Specific tasks under my current research positions with Dr. David A. Kindig and Dr. Whitney P. Witt include assistance with original data compilation and analysis, literature reviews, and manuscript formation. I have coauthored several abstracts for professional conferences and manuscripts that have been published in peer-reviewed journals.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.