Excerpt from: Disability Scoop (click for full article)
Significantly more children have disabilities today as compared to a decade ago, largely due to increased diagnosis of neurodevelopmental and mental health conditions, researchers say.
The prevalence of disability in children grew more than 16 percent in 10 years, according to findings presented Sunday at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting, a gathering of four leading pediatric organizations held in Washington, D.C.
It’s unclear what’s behind the rise in disability prevalence, though greater diagnosis of autism could be at least partly responsible, said Amy Houtrow of the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine who is lead author of the study.
Researchers looked at data from the National Health Interview Survey — a poll of more than 100,000 parents of children up to age 17 conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — comparing responses from 2009-2010 to those collected in 2001-2002.
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