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Factors Associated with Chronic Conditions Among Children in Foster Care
- Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 17, Number 2, May 2006
- pp. 328-341
- 10.1353/hpu.2006.0062
- Article
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The population of children in foster care is rapidly growing. Previous local and state-level analyses have measured the prevalence of chronic conditions among such children to be from 44%–82%. The study objective was to identify factors associated with chronic conditions among a nationally representative sample of children in foster care for one year. The authors analyzed data from The National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW), Wave 1, the first national dataset of children in the child welfare system. In regression analysis, factors significantly associated with having a chronic condition included: child age under 2 years, caregiver race/ethnicity other than Hispanic, and relatively few household members. Discussion includes consideration of chronic conditions in this high-risk population.