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CHSPTHER
Child needs special therapy
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Codes and Frequencies



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Description

For sample children age 17 and under, CHSPTHER reports parents' responses to the question, "Does [sample child] need or get special therapy, such as physical, occupational or speech therapy?" The 2002 Field Representative's Manual provides definitions for the following types of "special therapy":

  • Physical therapy is therapy administered to develop, improve, or restore gross motor skill movements, such as walking.
  • Occupational therapy is therapy that develops, improves or restores fine motor skills which usually involve the use of the fingers, hands or arms. It may involve working on activities like dressing, feeding and writing.
  • Speech therapy is therapy that works to improve speech or oral communication for problems such as stuttering, impaired articulation, or a language or voice impairment.

CHSPTHER was part of the Children with Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN) Supplement included in the Sample Child Health Care Access and Utilization section of the NHIS. Before beginning this part of the survey, interviewers read the following statement:

The next questions are about any kind of health problems, concerns, or conditions that may affect [sample child]'s behavior, learning, growth, or physical development. Some of these health problems may affect [sample child]'s abilities and activities at school or play. Some of these problems may affect the kind or amount of services needed or used.
These questions are for research purposes and may be similar to questions you have previously heard.

The question for CHSPTHER was the first item in the section of the CSHCN dealing with "Special Therapy." Respondents who answered "yes" to CHSPTHER received the follow-up question, "Is this because of any medical, behavioral or other health condition?" (CHSPTHERHC). Persons with a "yes" response in CHSPTHERHC received an additional follow-up question, "Is this a condition that has lasted or is expected to last for at least 12 months?" (CHSPTHERYR).

The 2002 Field Representative's Manual provides the following information regarding the purpose of the CSHCN Supplement:

The purpose of the Children With Special Health Care Needs Supplement is to provide prevalence estimates for this population (those who require special health care needs). The results will have great value for policy makers, epidemiologists, health service researchers, and other groups in the child health community. This set of questions includes inquiries about health problems, concerns, or conditions that may affect things like:
  • Behavior
  • Learning
  • Growth or physical development
  • Abilities and activities at school or play
  • The kind or amount of services needed or used

According to the 2002 Survey Description, the CSHCN Supplement was included in the NHIS "to compare the results of a face-to-face in-home interview as conducted by the NHIS with a random digit dial telephone interview as conducted by NCHS's State and Local Area Integrated Telephone Survey (SLAITS)." The Survey Description also notes that the special needs questions included in the 2001 SLAITS and 2002 NHIS were taken from a standardized screener developed by the Foundation for Accountability (FACCT). The Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative (CAHMI), in collaboration with FACCT, provides further information on this screener on their website at http://www.cahmi.org, including scoring procedures used to identify children with special health care needs.

For more information on the other CSHCN Supplement items and for scoring procedures, see CHNEEDRX. As noted, CHSPTHER, CHSPTHERHC, and CHSPTHERYR were items in the section of the CSHCN dealing with "Special Therapy." If children had affirmative responses in all three of these variables, they also had a value of "Yes" in the IPUMS NHIS-created variable SPNEEDSERV, indicating they met the criteria for children with special health care needs in the domain "service use above that considered usual or routine."

Comparability

CHSPTHER only occurs in 2002.

Universe

  • 2002: Sample children under age 18.

Availability

  • 2002

Weights