The burden of disability in children and youths associated with impairments of psychological functions

• Published in: Psychiatry research 2010-05, Vol.177 (1), p.199-205
• Main Authors: Baillargeon, Raymond H, Bernier, Julie
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Activities of Daily Living; Activity limitations; Adolescent; Age Factors; Biological and medical sciences; Canada - epidemiology; Child; Community Health Planning; Disabled Persons - psychology; Female; Health Surveys; Humans; International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health; Latent class analysis; Male; Medical sciences; Methodology. Experimentation; Participation restrictions; Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Psychotic Disorders - epidemiology; Psychotic Disorders - psychology; Retrospective Studies; Sex Factors; Techniques and methods; The 2001 Participation and Activity Limitation Survey
• ISSN: 0165-1781; 1872-7123
• DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2010.03.001

Abstract The immense burden of health conditions in children that is associated with mental disorders worldwide is increasingly being recognized. In comparison, the burden of disability associated with children's impairments of psychological functions (IPFs) is not well documented. The goal of this population-based study was to derive a measure of the burden of disability in children associated with IPFs that takes into account the highly variable impact such impairments might have on children's everyday activities. Data came from the 2001 Participation and Activity Limitation Survey, a national survey of individuals with disabilities living in Canada. Latent class analysis was used to obtain a maximum likelihood estimate of the proportion of children with IPFs living in Canada who were severely limited in their everyday activities, by age and sex. As expected, the burden of disability was not evenly shared among children with IPFs. In fact, only a minority of children with IPFs were severely limited in their everyday activities. This represents approximately 15% of 5–14 year-old boys with a disability and 10% of their female counterparts living in Canada. These estimates provide a better appraisal of the burden of disability in children associated with IPFs than previous estimates, which only considered the presence or absence of IPFs.