REGIONAL INEQUALITIES OF CHILDREN DISABILITY INCIDENCE IN LITHUANIA

Abstract

Declining birth rates, increasing number of diseases and injuries among children, socio-economical change in the situation of the country, as well as other social, health - and economics-related factors are the main reasons for greater interest of scientists in research on the social and health disparities in the counties (municipalities and districts). This paper analyzes the inequalities in first-time recognized children’s disability in counties of Lithuania during the period of 2007-2011. Aim of the study. To analyze incidences of the firsttime recognized children’s disability in Lithuania from 2007 to 2011 and to compare the parameters of the first-time recognized children’s disability incidence in 10 counties, taking into account variability of disability incidence inside the counties. Methods. The study used the data on the initial determination of disability in children, taken from Disability and Working Capacity Assessment Office under the Ministry of Social Security and Labor from 2007-2011. For the usage of further statistical index, the information on the number of citizens was taken from the database of Department of Statistics of the Republic of Lithuania. The indicators were age-standardized using the direct standardization method and the statistical program “WinPepi”. For the variation analysis of country’s regional disparities the One-way ANOVA test was applied. Results. During the analyzed period (2007-2011) in Lithuania some form of disability was found in 10649 children under the age of 18, of whom 6,219 - boys (58,0 percent) and 4,430 - girls (42,0 percent). The largest newly-recognized children’s disability averages in 2007-2011 were found in the region of Šiauliai (43,68 ± 1,70), Panevėžys county (41,55 ± 1,96) and Utena county (41,53 ± 6,27). In boys’ group - Šiauliai county (51,64 ± 1,53), Telšiai county (47,72 ± 10,61), Utena county (46,69 ± 7,83) and Panevėžys county (45,61 ± 2,59). In girls’ group - Panevėžys (37,14 ± 2,31 ), Šiauliai (35,33 ± 2,47), and Utena (36,16 ± 5,11) c o unties. In both girls’ and boys’ groups statistically significant differences (p0.05) in newly recognized children’s disability incidence in the country’s counties were found. Conclusions. The conducted variation analysis of children’s disability at t h e age of 0-17 y.o. in the period of 2007-2011 throughout the country’s counties, revealed inequalities among the counties. The biggest differences in newly determined disability in children in comparison with other counties of the country were found among Šiauliai, Utena, and Panevėžys counties.