Survey Results

Survey Items: These items are asked among all children in the initial household screener questionnaire. The screener item numbers: 6,7,8,9,10
Variables in public use data file: SC_K2Q10; SC_K2Q11; SC_K2Q12; SC_K2Q13; SC_K2Q14; SC_K2Q15; SC_K2Q16; SC_K2Q17; SC_K2Q18; SC_K2Q19; SC_K2Q20; SC_K2Q21; SC_K2Q22; SC_K2Q23; SC_CSHCN (derived)

Denominator: Children age 0-17 years

Numerator: Non-CSHCN (no qualifying health needs on CSHCN Screener); CSHCN - Functional limitations (alone or in combination with other qualifying needs); CSHCN - Prescription medication only (no other qualifying needs on CSHCN Screener); CSHCN - Above-routine use of specialized services (no other qualifying needs on CSHCN Screener); CSHCN - Prescription medication AND above-routine use of specialized services

Revisions and Changes: There have been no substantive changes to this measure since 2016.

Additional Notes: Researchers have used responses from the CSHCN screener questions to develop a measure of special needs type based on the following mutually exclusive categories: - PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS ONLY: Children in this group experience chronic health conditions that are managed primarily through prescription medication – often quite successfully as long as they have access to medical care and needed medication. - ELEVATED or ABOVE ROUTINE SERVICES USE: Children in this group qualify on one or more of the three screening criteria addressing elevated need or use of specialized services or therapies. The children in this group rely on one or more of a wide array of services – such as pediatric specialist care; early intervention; mental health care; developmental disabilities; special education; physical, occupational or speech therapies – to manage their chronic health conditions. - ELEVATED SERVICES USE and PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS: Children in this group experience health needs that require both medication management and specialized services or therapies. These children qualify on one or more of the three screening criteria addressing elevated service use AND on the prescription medication screening criteria. - FUNCTIONAL LIMITATIONS: Children in this group qualify on the functional limitations criteria, nearly always in conjunction with one or more other screening criteria. In addition to other types of special needs, these children currently experience one or more functional limitations as result of their ongoing health conditions. - For more information, please see Bramlett, M. D., Read, D., Bethell, C., Blumberg, S. J. (2009). Differentiating Subgroups of Children with Special Health Care Needs by Health Status and Complexity of Health Care Needs. Maternal and Child Health Journal. 13:151–163.

Treatment of Unknown Values: Missing values may be due to non-response (i.e. a skipped item) or a “don’t know” response. The way these items are handled can vary by measure. For NPMs and NOMs, having missing values for all items in an indicator will lead to the case being given a missing value on the overall measure. For some other measures, if there is a missing value on any of the items, the case will be set to missing. How missing values are handled is documented in the "Additional notes" field above when required.
Missing values are not included in the denominator when calculating prevalence estimates and weighted population counts displayed in the Interactive Data Query results table. In the majority of cases, the proportion of missing values is less than 2%. Exceptions are noted in the form of a Data Alert at the bottom of a results table. The exclusion of these values does not change the prevalence estimates (%) and only marginally affects the weighted population counts (Pop. Est.). To learn about the impact of the missing values on the population count estimates, click here.

History and Development:
About NSCH
The National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH), funded and directed by the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), is designed to provide annual national and state-level information on the health and well-being of children ages 0-17 years in the United States. The U.S. Census Bureau administers the survey, oversees the sampling, and produces a final data set of survey results. HRSA’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) develops survey content in collaboration with the U.S. Census Bureau and a Technical Expert Panel. The Technical Expert Panel consists of experts in survey methodology and children’s health, federal and state stakeholders, clinicians and researchers. In 2016, the NSCH underwent a significant redesign which combined content from both the NSCH and the National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs (NS-CSHCN). Further information on that redesign can be found in “The Design and Implementation of the 2016 National Survey of Children’s Health”.
The NSCH is conducted as a household survey, and one child per household is selected to be the subject for the detailed age-specific questionnaire. The respondent to this questionnaire is a parent or guardian who is living in the home and has knowledge of the sampled child. Survey participants complete either web-based or self-administered paper-and-pencil questionnaires. Data from the NSCH is used for scientific research, federal policy and program development, and state-level planning and performance reporting. Information is collected on factors related to the health and well-being of children, including access to and utilization of health care, receipt of care in a medical home, systems of care for CSHCN, family interactions, parental health, school and after-school experiences, and neighborhood characteristics.
More information about the survey can be found in the “About the National Survey of Children’s Health” section of this website and HRSA’s MCHB website.