Secondary Conditions in Youth with Disabilities

Abstract

Healthy People 2010 (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2000, Chap. 6, Disability and Secondary Conditions) identifies secondary conditions as “medical, social, emotional, family, or community problems that a person with a primary disabling condition likely experiences,” which includes physical and psychological conditions that might emerge following primary disability but which also includes the impact of attitudes of other people on primary and secondary disabilities. In the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) 2007 report,The Future of Disability in America, secondary condition risk is dependent on an individual’s primary disabling condition and therefore the risk of secondary conditions will differ among people. The IOM report also points out that behavior, lifestyle, and biological factors for a particular individual can affect the potential for developing participation restrictions, activity limitations, or additional impairments as a result of a particular secondary condition. The purpose of this chapter is to: (1) explore the variability in secondary condition definitions, (2) identify the types of secondary conditions published in the peer-reviewed literature for specific populations of youth, and (3) discuss the importance of secondary condition prevention efforts in improving quality of life for children and youth with disabilities.