Dataset Information

Socioeconomic gradient in the developmental health of Canadian children with disabilities at school entry: a cross-sectional study.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To examine the relationship between developmental health and neighbourhood socioeconomic status (SES) in kindergarten children with disabilities.

Design

Cross-sectional study using population-level database of children's developmental health at school entry (2002-2014).

Setting

12 of 13 Canadian provinces/territories.

Measures

Taxfiler and Census data between 2005 and 2006, respectively, were aggregated according to custom-created neighbourhood boundaries and used to create an index of neighbourhood-level SES. Developmental health outcomes were measured for 29 520 children with disabilities using the Early Development Instrument (EDI), a teacher-completed measure of developmental health across five domains.

Analysis

Hierarchical generalised linear models were used to test the association between neighbourhood-level SES and developmental health.

Results

All EDI domains were positively correlated with the neighbourhood-level SES index. The strongest association was observed for the language and cognitive development domain (β (SE): 0.29 (0.02)) and the weakest association was observed for the emotional maturity domain (β (SE): 0.12 (0.01)).

Conclusions

The magnitude of differences observed in EDI scores across neighbourhoods at the 5th and 95th percentiles are similar to the effects of more established predictors of development, such as sex. The association of SES with developmental outcomes in this population may present a potential opportunity for policy interventions to improve immediate and long-term outcomes.

SUBMITTER: Zeraatkar D

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7213855 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Socioeconomic gradient in the developmental health of Canadian children with disabilities at school entry: a cross-sectional study.

Zeraatkar Dena D Duku Eric E Bennett Teresa T Guhn Martin M Forer Barry B Brownell Marni M Janus Magdalena M

BMJ open 20200428 4

<h4>Objective</h4>To examine the relationship between developmental health and neighbourhood socioeconomic status (SES) in kindergarten children with disabilities.<h4>Design</h4>Cross-sectional study using population-level database of children's developmental health at school entry (2002-2014).<h4>Setting</h4>12 of 13 Canadian provinces/territories.<h4>Measures</h4>Taxfiler and Census data between 2005 and 2006, respectively, were aggregated according to custom-created neighbourhood boundaries a ...[more]

PMID: 32350007

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Project description:Functional abilities in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are highly heterogenous, and impairments can overlap with non-ASD neurodevelopmental disorders. We compared the profiles of children assessed for ASD with and without an ASD diagnosis using a retrospective cohort study of 101,739 children born in British Columbia (2000-2008). The children were grouped into the following five comparison groups: (1) ASD- (n = 1131), (2) ASD+ (n = 1583), (3) Ministry of Education designated ASD+ (n = 654), (4) special need other than ASD (n = 11,663), and (5) typically developing (n = 86,708). Five developmental domains were assessed using the Early Development Instrument. ANCOVA was used to control for covariates, Tukey's HSD test for multiple comparisons, and Cohen's d for effect size. The ASD- group had slightly higher scores than the ASD+ group with small to medium effect sizes in all domains (d = 0.20-0.48). The ASD- group had slightly higher scores than the Ministry of Education ASD+ group in only three domains with small effect sizes (d = 0.21-0.25). The ASD- group had lower scores in all domains compared to the typically developing group with large effect sizes in all domains (d = 1.12-1.77). The ASD- group received less education funding at school entry than both ASD+ groups. Overall, only small to medium differences in development were detected between the ASD- and ASD+ groups. While these children differ diagnostically, they share similar functional profiles and have substantially more difficulties than typically developing children. Therefore, differences in levels of support at school entry raise critical questions of equity. LAY SUMMARY: Comparison of children in British Columbia who have been referred for an autism assessment, with or without a diagnosis, shows similarities in their functional and developmental profiles in kindergarten. Furthermore, both groups of children have more difficulties than typically developing children. However, children who have been referred for assessment without an autism diagnosis receive less financial support at school entry, raising important questions on equity.

Dataset Information

Socioeconomic gradient in the developmental health of Canadian children with disabilities at school entry: a cross-sectional study.

Objective

Design

Setting

Measures

Analysis

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Socioeconomic gradient in the developmental health of Canadian children with disabilities at school entry: a cross-sectional study.

Similar Datasets

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