Prevalence and Trends in Pediatric-Onset Chronic Conditions in the United States, 1999–2018

Abstract

Objective: We sought to provide an updated estimate of the current prevalence and recent trends (over the past two decades) in pediatric-onset conditions among a nationally-representative sample of youth to identify opportunities for prevention and intervention. Methods: We performed a secondary data analysis of nationally-representative data on 236,412 participants (ages 5–25 years) from the 1999 to 2018 National Health Interview Survey. Chronic conditions (CCs) and functional limitations (FLs) were self-reported by the participant or a qualified proxy-respondent. We employed multivariate linear probability models to estimate annual average increase in CC/FL prevalence and differences in prevalence across sociodemographic characteristics. Results: The prevalence of children (5–17 years) with a CC/FL has risen from 22.57% in 1999/2000 to 30.21% in 2017/2018 – an adjusted annual increase of 0.24% points per year (P