The health care of children and youths with disabilities. Council on Scientific Affairs, American Medical Association.

Abstract

Nearly 2 million adolescents between ages 10 and 18 years have a chronic condition associated with limited activity. Reflecting the interaction between functional ability and socioeconomic influences, an adolescent living in poverty and those with parents with less than a ninth-grade education are almost twice as likely to be disabled as other adolescents. Most children with disabilities have a regular source of health care. These young people and their families, however, may face major financial problems and are often in need of protection from excessive out-of-pocket expenses. This issue becomes more prominent during late adolescence as youths leave the home setting, become financially independent, marry, or transfer from a pediatric to an adult health care system. Treating children and youths with disabilities necessitates cooperation among physicians, schools, community agencies, and families. Although not necessarily a problem for family physicians, an additional challenge for pediatricians is helping adolescents make the transition from the pediatric to the adult health care system. As the survival rate of children with disabilities increases, pediatricians are faced more frequently with having to prepare their adolescent patients and their families for transfer to adult care providers.