Concurrent medical conditions and health care use and needs among children with learning and behavioral developmental disabilities, National Health Interview Survey, 2006–2010 § Laura A. Schieve *, Vanessa Gonzalez, Sheree L. Boulet, Susanna N. Visser, Catherine E. Rice, Kim Van Naarden Braun, Coleen A. Boyle National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United States 1. Introduction Developmental disabilities (DDs) profoundly affect children’s health and functioning. Although patterns of health care use among children with special health care needs including DDs, have been generally described, there are limited population-based studies that examined health effects associated with multiple specific DDs side by side. In a previous study, we assessed children in the 1997–2005 National Health Interview Surveys (NHIS) who had a range of DDs and found Research in Developmental Disabilities 33 (2012) 467–476 A R T I C L E I N F O Article history: Received 6 October 2011 Accepted 7 October 2011 Available online 24 November 2011 Keywords: Developmental disabilities Health services research Chronic diseases Epidemiology A B S T R A C T Studies document various associated health risks for children with developmental disabilities (DDs). Further study is needed by disability type. Using the 2006–2010 National Health Interview Surveys, we assessed the prevalence of numerous medical conditions (e.g. asthma, frequent diarrhea/colitis, seizures), health care use measures (e.g. seeing a medical specialist and >9 office visits in past year), health impact measures (e.g. needing help with personal care), and selected indicators of unmet health needs (e.g. unable to afford needed prescription medications) among a nationally representative sample of children ages 3–17 years, with and without DDs. Children in four mutually exclusive developmental disability groups: autism (N = 375), intellectual disability (ID) without autism (N = 238); attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) without autism or ID (N = 2901); and learning disability (LD) or other developmental delay without ADHD, autism, or ID (N = 1955); were compared to children without DDs (N = 35,775) on each condition or health care measure of interest. Adjusted odds ratios (aORs) were calculated from weighted logistic regression models that accounted for the complex sample design. Prevalence estimates for most medical conditions examined were moderately to markedly higher for children in all four DD groups than children without DDs. Most differences were statistically significant after adjustment for child sex, age, race/ethnicity, and maternal education. Children in all DD groups also had significantly higher estimates for health care use, impact, and unmet needs measures than children without DDs. This study provides empirical evidence that children with DDs require increased pediatric and specialist services, both for their core functional deficits and concurrent medical conditions. Published by Elsevier Ltd. § Disclaimer statement: The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention. * Corresponding author at: National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, MS E-86, 1600 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA 30333, United States. Tel.: +1 404 498 3888; fax: +1 404 498 3550. E-mail address: LSchieve@cdc.gov (L.A. Schieve). Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Research in Developmental Disabilities 0891-4222/$ – see front matter . Published by Elsevier Ltd. doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2011.10.008